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horizon-institute

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tagsorg, effective-altruism, policy, congress

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Horizon Institute for Public Service

What it is: a nonprofit that places fellows in congressional offices and other Washington posts, initially funded by Open Philanthropy, the effective-altruism grantmaker (open-philanthropy). It exists in this vault because the congressional-staffing claim in 2026-10-04-youtube-newport-ai-harm-taxonomy points at it. Cal Newport says, second-hand from Hill staffers, that effective altruist fellowship programs have been placing effective altruists onto congressional staff, “this is a plan” (25:30 to 25:43). Horizon is the program the journalism names. The plan framing is stronger than anything the reporting states. Full grading at ai-doom-paper-trail.

Record

  • Politico, October 13, 2023, reports that fellows funded by Open Philanthropy through Horizon were “already involved in negotiations that will shape Capitol Hill’s accelerating plans to regulate AI”, writing AI bills and helping senators including Richard Blumenthal and Martin Heinrich understand the technology. A Google document last updated by Open Phil in August 2022 said the fellowship would consider candidates “who share Open Philanthropy’s interests in global catastrophic risks and technology’s long-term impacts”; that language later disappeared from Horizon’s site. Tim Stretton of Project On Government Oversight and Steven Skaggs, former director of the Office of Congressional Ethics, both called the arrangement a conflict of interest. Horizon co-founder and executive director Remco Zwetsloot said the program doesn’t exist to pursue policy goals, doesn’t screen applicants on belief in long-term AI risks, and doesn’t direct placements. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/13/open-philanthropy-funding-ai-policy-00121362
  • Washington Examiner, November 6, 2025, reports Horizon “has deployed a small army of fellows at influential think tanks and government offices across Washington, D.C.”, and “at times, these fellows have worked on policy affecting the goals of effective altruists”, with chip export controls on China as the example. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3874805/effective-altruism-linked-nonprofit-placed-fellows-in-key-government-offices-secured-influence
  • The placement channel is not exclusive to EA money. Politico, December 3, 2023, documents a parallel AAAS “rapid response cohort” of Hill AI fellows funded by Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, IBM, and Nvidia.

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