The safety budget just went independent. openai is putting 7.5 million dollars into the alignment…
the safety budget just went independent. openai is putting 7.5 million dollars into the alignment project, per oct 6, funding outside researchers on misalignment risks.
the guardrails now get built by outsiders.
Context
Verified event date: OpenAI committed $7.5 million to The Alignment Project on Feb 19, 2026, to fund independent research on mitigations for risks from misaligned AI (OpenAI, Feb 19, 2026). The project was created by the UK AI Security Institute; one write-up says 60 projects were chosen from over 800 applications in 42 countries, with a £27 million total.
Montana Labs (Jul 8, 2026) says OpenAI chose to co-fund an external program rather than launch its own grant program, so it does not pick the projects.
The $7.5 million and the independent-researchers aim match OpenAI's post. The post says 'per oct 6'; OpenAI's commitment is dated Feb 19, 2026, almost eight months earlier. The fund belongs to the UK AI Security Institute's Alignment Project. A separate Norwegian report (24AI, Feb 19) notes OpenAI had disbanded its own safety team, which is context the post leaves out. 'The guardrails now get built by outsiders' is the author's.
'the safety budget just went independent' is the author's opinion.
Related work
Watch next
- Check whether OpenAI added to the Alignment Project funding in October.
Sources
Provenance
The note above is reproduced unedited from the original post, first published on Threads on 11 October 2026 at 12:03 IST. Sources are the papers and datasets the note draws on.
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