A quarterly Techplomacy Conversations series that turns AI x-risk research into direct, actionable recommendations for foreign ministries, UN missions, and AI companies.
A quarterly Techplomacy Conversations series that turns AI x-risk research into direct, actionable recommendations for foreign ministries, UN missions, and AI companies.
Project Details
Updated 07/11/26 · Edited by orgI run Techplomacy Magazine, an initiative of the Techplomacy Foundation, founded by former UN officials with a focus on bridging the gap between fast evolving tech industry and slow-moving government regulation.
I think mainstream media is going through a serious ethical and existential crisis. It has become a vehicle for political or corporate agendas. Audiences are uncertain about what to trust and even when honest and intelligent insights appear in mainstream outlets, it is often perceived with doubt and suspicion of underling motives.
Most writing on AI x-risk is either too academic or too technical and relevant for people already inside the AI Safety world. It almost never reaches the people who will actually be dealing with this on the ground such as foreign ministers, UN missions, and national tech ministries. Most of them have no real source explaining what x-risk means for them and what can they actually do about it.
Managing AI X-Risk is a new quarterly track inside Techplomacy Magazine's Techplomacy Conversations series. Over one year (August 2026 to July 2027) I will commission, edit, and publish 15 interviews and essays pairing Global South and North voices that includes officials, researchers, and experts in this cause area. Each piece will cover something specific, solution-orientated, and will close with concrete recommendations for policymakers, heads of state, and AI companies. I will cover topics such as (however not limited to): who should hold authority on emergency shutdown decisions, what a real AI incident notification protocol would need, and what smaller states should actually be asking for as AI capability keeps concentrating in a handful of companies and countries.
At the end of the year, I will also publish a short synthesis memo pulling together key insights from all the articles published within this track. I believe this can be helpful directly to the funders who are looking where to donate their next dollar.
Every piece, the quarterly pdf, and the closing memo will be distributed to UN Resident Coordinators across 129+ countries, UN missions and embassies in Geneva, New York, and Paris. I will run this through existing relationships and email lists from my and my team's backgrounds who work inside the multilateral and bilateral organizations.
Theory of Impact
Updated 07/19/26 · By grantmaking.aiPeople can not make good decisions about something they don't understand. Right now, almost nobody is explaining AI x-risk to the officials who would actually be involved if something went wrong, not researchers, not people writing policy papers, actual diplomats and ministry staff who would be the first ones fielding a crisis. That gap isn't really a research gap but a translation and distribution gap, and it's underfunded because it sits between categories: too applied to be "research," too international to be "US policy," too specific to be general AI safety awareness.
Closing that gap, even partially, means more of the people who'd actually be in the room during an AI crisis or negotiation go in already understanding what's at stake, instead of learning it under pressure for the first time. It also means funders get a clearer, ground level picture of where the real governance gaps are, since almost nobody is producing that kind of mapping right now. I am not claiming this single-handedly will prevent a bad outcome. I am claiming it's genuine and overlooked, and one I'm positioned to actually do well given the network and platform I already run.
People
Updated 07/19/26 · By grantmaking.aiTeam Member
Funding Details
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Track Record
- Techplomat at Techplomacy Foundation, working at the intersection of AI safety, governance, diplomacy, and international development. I bring 18+ years of experience delivering humanitarian and development initiatives across 21 countries, from Australia to India, Bulgaria to Cambodia, Indonesia to Tunisia, Thailand to the Solomon Islands, and beyond. More info: LinkedIn
- Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Techplomacy Magazine, an independent platform advancing global dialogue on AI safety and governance. Previously, I founded and successfully exited two startups, with experience building organizations, teams, and initiatives from inception.
- I am an AI Safety fellowship alumnus of BlueDot Impact, AI Safety Collab, European Network for AI Safety, Center for AI Safety, and Successif.
- My previous work includes producing research and editorial content on human rights, policy, and social impact; drafting speeches and strategic communications for (UN) leaders and senior executives; and advising organizations on crisis communications, advocacy, and public engagement strategies.
Hi, the idea is interesting, and some further background would be helpful.
Good luck!
Dear Mark, thank you for the helpful feedback. You are right, Techplomacy Magazine has published five issues over the past year, as I was building the platform while working on it only on weekends. From August 2026, I will be dedicating significantly more time to it, and if fully funded, I plan to work on it full time. This proposal is specifically for a new quarterly AI x-risk series. We currently have around 1,800 newsletter subscribers on LinkedIn, I have 18,000 LinkedIn followers. I also distribute each issue directly to 200+ current and former UN Resident Coordinators, diplomats, and senior officials through my professional network. Few senior experts have confirmed via email that they will be contributing articles for our Au-Sep 2026 issue.
The funding mainly affects proactive outreach rather than publication itself. With full funding, I can hire a part-time sub-editor and support staff, and it would allow us to expand distribution beyond our existing network through targeted outreach and follow-up with policymakers.
Thanks Olin, this additional information is very helpful.