SFF is very suboptimal

According to LessWrong, a reviewer for the Survival and Flourishing Fund—a major funder of artificial intelligence safety research—has published a detailed critique of the organization's grantmaking process. The reviewer estimates the system produces only about half the funding value that an optimized process could deliver. Core problems: the application software is buggy and difficult to navigate, the review process consumes far more time than promised, and applications are so lengthy that reviewers often rely on AI summaries rather than reading full text. For applicants, the process moves slowly—five months from submission to funding decision—and only runs once yearly. While the reviewer acknowledged SFF's sound judgment and commitment to the AI safety ecosystem, they urged systemic improvements in software design, reviewer training, and operational structure.

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