Forum San Francisco, 13–14 March 2027

Spread widely, the wealth from AI can fund institutions where people take part in the decisions that shape their lives. Held tightly, it leaves those decisions to a handful of stakeholders. Industrial wealth built the university, the library, the public foundation; the institutions of the AI age don't exist yet, and they are still ours to build.

For stakes this high, the conversation about where this wealth goes and who governs it stays surprisingly small, and much of it happens in silos. There is still time to widen it: to gather the people building the models and mechanisms that keep capital and power in the hands of many.

This March we'll do just that over two days of focused sessions and open debate, some of it off the record, meant to start lasting collaborations and research.

For funders and philanthropic institutions

Be on the frontline of where the next generation of public-goods infrastructure is being built before it shows up in a grant proposal.

Funders in conversation over dinner at a Funding the Commons gathering

For researchers and mechanism designers

Test your model, mechanism, or policy by putting it in front of people who will use it and the people who can break it.

A builder at work across three screens during a Funding the Commons residency

For people driving the policy, advocacy, and public infrastructure debate

Influence and debate the decisions on what gets built and how new systems are governed.

A fireside chat on stage at Funding the Commons San Francisco

( Track 01 )

Human Welfare. Will the gains reach everyone?

From economics to environmental science, this track asks what it will take for the gains of abundant intelligence to show up in everyday life, and to last.

Public goods funding
mechanisms Funding digital public
infrastructure, and public AI The AI windfall and
how it's shared Data rights and
compensation Resilient systems, and
flourishing beyond GDP Future of work,
education, and reskilling Care, community,
and participation Mental and
planetary health

( Track 02 )

Human Agency. Will the world still answer to the people living in it?

This track turns to power: who builds and governs the new systems, and how they stay answerable to the people living with them, from cryptography to constitutional law.

Open models Sovereign AI
and data AI safety and
alignment Digital human rights,
privacy, and identity PGF mechanism
design Information integrity
and provenance Verifiable AI and
accountability