START WITH THE PROBLEM

The challenges shaping
AI safety.

Explore the problems researchers, engineers, policymakers, and organizers are trying to solve—then see who is already working on each one.

8mapped challenges23organizations in the wider directory

A WORKING MAP

Begin with what concerns you.

These categories overlap, and the field is still evolving. Use them as entry points—not as a final taxonomy.

01Mapped challenge

Evaluating advanced AI

Build credible tests for dangerous capabilities, strategic behavior, autonomy, and safeguards before systems are widely deployed.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

How can we tell when an AI system has crossed a meaningful risk threshold?

Capability evaluationsRed-teamingDeployment monitoring
02Mapped challenge

Understanding how models work

Develop methods that reveal what models represent, how they reason, and when their internal processes differ from their stated behavior.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

Can we inspect advanced systems well enough to catch deception or dangerous reasoning?

Mechanistic interpretabilityBehavioral scienceModel organisms
03Mapped challenge

Controlling autonomous systems

Keep increasingly capable agents within legitimate authority, even when they operate for long periods, use tools, or coordinate with other agents.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

How do we preserve meaningful human control as agents become more capable and independent?

Control protocolsAgent identityHuman oversight
04Mapped challenge

AI security and misuse

Prevent model theft, malicious use, compromised agents, and cascading failures across the infrastructure on which advanced AI depends.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

Which defenses still work when both attackers and defenders can use capable AI agents?

Cyber evaluationsSecure deploymentIncident response
05Mapped challenge

Scalable oversight

Help people reliably evaluate work that is too fast, complex, or specialized for unaided human reviewers to check directly.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

How can humans supervise systems whose outputs exceed our own ability to verify them?

AI-assisted oversightProcess supervisionDebate and critique
06Mapped challenge

Governance and safety standards

Turn evidence about AI risk into enforceable rules, measurable standards, institutional capacity, and accountable deployment decisions.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

Which rules and institutions can keep pace with rapidly advancing capabilities?

Risk standardsPublic policyAssurance and audits
07Mapped challenge

Multi-agent coordination

Understand cooperation, conflict, bargaining, and emergent behavior when many AI agents and human institutions interact.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

How can independently developed agents cooperate without collusion, conflict, or systemic failure?

Cooperation researchNegotiation testbedsSystem-level evaluations
08Mapped challenge

International coordination

Create shared testing practices, risk thresholds, and response capacity across countries without reducing safety to the weakest consensus.

THE CENTRAL QUESTION

What can governments coordinate on before the highest-risk systems are globally deployed?

Joint evaluationsShared measurementCapacity building

TURN INTEREST INTO ACTION

Find people and work connected to a challenge you care about.

Browse current roles and projects—or join a challenge circle to meet people coordinating around the same problem.