Holden Karnofsky
Holden Karnofsky is a philanthropist and writer who co-founded GiveWell, a charity evaluator, with Elie Hassenfeld in 2007. He co-founded Open Philanthropy in 2014 and served as its CEO and later co-CEO until 2023. From 2017 to 2021 he served on OpenAI's board of directors. In 2021 he published 'Call to Vigilance' on Cold Takes, arguing that advanced AI could be sufficient to make this the most important century. Since 2025 he works as a member of technical staff at Anthropic, where he focuses on the design of the company's Responsible Scaling Policy.
Timeline
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2003
A social studies degree
He graduates from Harvard with a degree in social studies in 2003.
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2007
Founding GiveWell
In 2007 he co-founds GiveWell, a charity evaluator, with Elie Hassenfeld, and the two leave their jobs to run it full time.
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2014
Co-founding Open Philanthropy
In 2014 he co-founds Open Philanthropy, now called Coefficient Giving, and serves as its CEO and later co-CEO until 2023.
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2017–2021
A seat on OpenAI's board
From 2017 to 2021 he serves on OpenAI's board of directors.
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2021
The most important century
In 2021 he publishes 'Call to Vigilance' on Cold Takes. He argues that advanced AI could be sufficient to make this the most important century.
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2023
Director of AI strategy
In 2023 he takes a leave of absence from his co-CEO role and then moves to a new role as Director of AI Strategy to focus on AI safety.
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2024
A visiting scholar at Carnegie
In 2024 he becomes a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His research focuses on international security risks from advances in artificial intelligence.
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Since 2025
Member of technical staff at Anthropic
He joins Anthropic in January 2025 as a member of the technical staff. He focuses on the design of the company's Responsible Scaling Policy.
Sources and credits
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