Center for AI Safety Action Fund (CAIS AF)

What it does

501(c)(4) advocacy arm of CAIS. Nonpartisan lobbying and policymaker education. Stated policy focus areas: US leadership in AI chip manufacturing, compute security, preventing malicious use of AI, and global cooperation for safe and secure AI. Registered federal lobbyist; active in state legislation.

What they ask for — in their own terms

US policy should maintain American leadership in AI while protecting against AI-related national security threats — chip manufacturing leadership, compute security, preventing malicious use, and global cooperation on safe AI.

What they do

501(c)(4) advocacy: convening lawmakers, business leaders and security experts; building bipartisan consensus; educating policymakers. Sister organisation to the Center for AI Safety research nonprofit.

Honest assessment

If you want a catastrophic-risk concern carried into US legislative offices, this is one of about three organisations that can actually do it (with Encode and FLI). Contributions are not tax-deductible, which is the price of the lobbying capability.

What a newcomer can do

Donate (not tax-deductible), or apply for a job. There is no constituent action tool — this is an inside-Washington operation.

Worth knowing

Its framing is national-security and US competitiveness, not a pause or ban — noticeably more hawkish in framing than PauseAI or ControlAI, and it sits comfortably with 'US leadership in AI'. If your goal is slowing AI, check the framing matches your intent. There is essentially no public participation route.

Concerns it covers

Catastrophic misuse and national-security risk, plus compute governance. More security-and-competitiveness framed than the research arm.

Government channel

Direct — registered federal lobbying disclosures (OpenSecrets, LegiStorm) and sustained state-legislature engagement. One of the few AI safety organisations that formally lobbies.

Tips

Where they work

United States, federal.

Size

Small professional policy staff. EIN 93-2442608.

Spending

Not published on its own site; a 501(c)(4) so donations are not tax-deductible and donors need not be disclosed.