MediumHow to Actually Give Away Your AI Money | by Roy Bahat | Jul, 2026 | Also by Roy BahatSitemapOpen in appSign up<br>Sign in

Medium Logo

Get app<br>Write

Search

Sign up<br>Sign in

Also by Roy Bahat

Learning about the future of work

How to Actually Give Away Your AI Money

Thoughts for people (at the AI labs and elsewhere) who want to make the world better with their money — Part 2 of 2

Roy Bahat

6 min read·<br>Jul 10, 2026

Listen

Share

So you want to make the world better, and use your (newfound) money to do it. In an earlier piece, I shared some observations from people with money on that. Now in this piece, how do you do it?<br>Press enter or click to view image in full size

ChatGPT again with a watercolor version of this piece, after asking it to go 5:2 and adjust compositionThe first thing will sound obvious: start with the effect you want to have on the world, not with picking which kinds of organizations you want to back. The most common practice in allocating money to give away is the other way around! Many new giving efforts decide up front how much should go to non-profits vs. political giving vs. other things you can do. That seems backward!<br>You can do more than give to non-profits of course — though there are many of those, from synagogues to policy advocates to media outlets and more. You can give to political candidates. You can angel invest. You can start your own things. You can host things for others. You can pay off your neighbor’s student loans. You can be an activist shareholder in a public company.<br>What kinds of organizations and people to support depends on what the nonprofit folks often call your “theory of change,” on what you believe needs to happen to make the world turn out differently. (The book The Radical Fund had some phenomenal stories on how, in the past, a band of givers made real change happen by experimenting with the new. It’s been making the rounds.)<br>Starting with the vehicle (“I want to give to 501(c)(3)’s”) can prematurely tie your hands. More than one big foundation has wished their donor hadn’t bonded the money to strictly nonprofit giving!<br>And a unique note, because you work in AI: you’re being watched. More than any period I can remember, even small moves from people in AI have big meaning right now. An OpenAI engineer who used his sale proceeds to open a community makerspace in the East Bay made local news.

As you explore, here are some questions you may want to start thinking about:<br>Who should decide how to give the money. For some, this question perplexes. “What do you mean, shouldn’t I decide?” Maybe! Do you know what’s best for solving the problems you want to solve? Maybe you should consider sharing decisionmaking power with those most affected by the issues you care about (sometimes called participatory grantmaking). Maybe you should give the money to a “pooled fund” that has someone else with more expertise than you.<br>How much you’ll want to back things that already exist, versus insist on new things. (Some people believe “AI people will only fund new AI-ish things.” That remains to be seen! I’m excited for both innovative new plays and the support of successful, established organizations. Maybe the biggest donor to the International Rescue Committee, a long-established nonprofit, will be you.)<br>Get Roy Bahat’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Subscribe

Subscribe

Remember me for faster sign in

How much you’ll insist on people you fund doing things a certain way. In startups, an investor hardly ever says “I’ll give you this money, but only if you spend it on the things I want you to do.” Generally, startup investors trust founders to make the best choices about how to deploy capital. In nonprofits, “restricted giving,” where the donor insists on a particular use of the money, is much more normal. (Though I don’t love it. People who would never ask a startup to follow their orders have no issue asking nonprofits — where those donors often know much less than they do about startups! — to do just that.)<br>How you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t. It’s hard to measure things! It’s hard to get people to be honest with you about their own work. You’ll need to triangulate, develop other sources to learn from, and form a composite sketch. Now that you have money, you can call people up and they’ll often be willing to talk and give you hard-to-access expertise. Recognize, in that way and others, you have some new powers now. Some things you can learn quickly, some things you learn slowly (because results can take time). Some things you learn about yourself and what you want; some things you learn about the work.<br>Will you use a philosophy to guide your giving. Effective Altruism of course is, in AI circles, omnipresent. You’ll learn there are good criticisms of philanthropy generally (read Stanford’s Rob Reich, who advised the First Principles Forum). For example, how do you relate to government — since government...