Large movement organising takes time. It takes listening deeply to many communities' concerns, finding consensus around a campaign, ramping up training of organisers, etc.

But what if the AI crash is about to happen? What if US tariffs^[1] triggered a recession that is making consumers and enterprises cut their luxury subscriptions? What if even the sucker VCs stop investing in companies that after years of billion-dollar losses on compute, now compete with cheap alternatives to their not-much-improving-LLMs?

Then there is little time to organise and we must jump to mobilisation. But AI Safety has been playing the inside game, and is poorly positioned to mobilise the resistance.

So we need groups that can:

Scale the outside game, meaning a movement pushing for change from the outside.
Promote robust messages, e.g. affirm concerns about tech oligarchs seizing power.
Bridge-build with other groups to start campaigns around connected concerns.
Legitimately pressure and negotiate with institutions to enforce restrictions.

Each group could mobilise a network of supporters fast. But they need money to cover their hours. We have money. Some safety researchers advise tech billionaires. You might have a high-earning tech job. If you won't push for reforms, you can fund groups that do.

You can donate to organisations already resisting AI, so more staff can go full-time.
Some examples:

Data rights (NA Voice Actors, Algorithmic Justice League)
Workers (Tech Workers Coalition, Turkopticon)
Investigations (FoxGlove, Disruption Network Lab)
Christians (World Pause Coalition, Singularity Weekly)
Extinction risk (Stop AI, PauseAI)

Their ideologies vary widely, with some controversial to other groups. By supporting many to stand up for their concerns, you can preempt the ‘left-right’ polarisation we saw around climate change. Many different groups are needed for a broad-based movement.

At the early signs of a crash, groups need funding to ratchet up actions against weakened AI companies. If you wait, they lose their effectiveness. In this scenario, it is better to seed fund many proactive groups than to hold off.^[2]

Plus you can fund coaches for the groups to build capacity. The people I have in mind led one of the largest grassroots movements in the last decade. I'll introduce them in the next post.

There is also room for large campaigns grounded in citizens' concerns. These ca...

Preparing for an AI Market Crash