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Alexander Berger

@albrgr.bsky.social
2K followers 653 following 457 posts

CEO of Coefficient Giving

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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thanks to @bloombergdotorg.bsky.social for hosting us this week to talk about reducing lead poisoning, and for their leading role on this work. So grateful to our shared grantees like @pureearthnow.bsky.social and LEEP who do the hard work of measuring and reducing exposure on the ground.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
We also launched a big specific call for founders for ambitious new AI safety initiatives today: coefficientgiving.org/tailwind/ So much more to be doing here!
coefficientgiving.org
Project Tailwind
Project Tailwind is Coefficient Giving's call for founders to launch ambitious AI safety initiatives.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Ahead of the coming "third wave of philanthropy," we want to give hundreds of millions of dollars to "general managers" to lead targeted funds tackling big problems in global health and wellbeing (h/t @nanr.bsky.social for the frame). Apply by October 2: coefficientgiving.org/funds/globa...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
We started a Substack: coefficientgiving.substack.com One of my favorite things about working at Coefficient is how much good public writing our staff produces. A few of my favorites from this past year ↓
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Nice editorial from Bloomberg today on the benefits of gene drives spreading resistance within mosquitos to control malaria! We fund a bunch of this work. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/art...
bloomberg.com
Can Building a Better Mosquito Finally Beat Malaria?
Almost half a million children under the age of 5 die of malaria each year. What if replacing a single amino acid in disease-carrying mosquitoes could help save them? After battling with rudimentary tools for millennia, malaria fighters are now armed with a potentially revolutionary technology. If only the public could get on board.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
We just made our biggest grant yet: $212 million to @againstmalaria.bsky.social to support bed net campaigns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with other GiveWell donors adding another $64 million. GiveWell expects these nets to avert 67,000 deaths, mostly in kids under five.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Thanks to @asteriskmag.bsky.social for hosting and writing up this fun debate I had with my friend @robreich.bsky.social about philanthropy and democracy and the coming AI giving boom (though they did me dirty with the photo choice!): asteriskmag.substack.com/p/what-shou...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I’m really excited about this: we’re increasing our support for GiveWell recs this year from $175M to $1B to help pave the way for an expected surge in funding from others. coefficientgiving.org/research/in...
coefficientgiving.org
Increasing Our 2026 Allocation to GiveWell’s Recommendations to $1 Billion
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
New CBO paper: every $1 of federal R&D returns ~$3–$4 of GDP in present value over 30 years www.nber.org/papers/w35472
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Katharine Collins @kat-a-collins.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I've spent my career working on vaccines, and until I joined Coefficient Giving, I'd never heard Strep A mentioned as a global health priority. The more I looked, the harder it was to understand why a disease killing 630,000+ people a year was so neglected.
globalhealthnow.org
A Vaccine for Strep A May Finally Be in Reach
Strep A—the bacterium behind strep throat and impetigo—kills hundreds of thousands of people a year, mostly young people in LMICs—yet Strep A vaccine R&D is chronically underfunded.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Cool to see this! content.govdelivery.com/accounts/US...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Thanks @alterigoe.bsky.social for having me on @devex.com's new Theory of Change podcast. We talked about how we pick problems at Coefficient Giving, why Strep A stands out as a unique opportunity, and the challenge of making big bets across long time horizons: youtu.be/0SLzoKxQqHg
youtube.com
Theory of Change: #1: How Alexander Berger weighs the world's biggest problems
Coefficient Giving, one of the world’s largest effective-giving fun...
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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 26/05/2026
Looks like Eric Adams really delivered on housing production with City of Yes newyorkyimby.com/2026/05/new-...
newyorkyimby.com
New York YIMBY’s 2026 First-Quarter Construction Report Tallies a Dramatic Increase in Development - New York YIMBY
YIMBY has revealed its report on construction permit filing activity for the first quarter of 2026 across the five boroughs.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
I'm really excited about the >$140 million Strep A Vaccine Fund we're launching today. I think the basic case here is a great recipe for impact ↓ bsky.app/profile/kat...
bsky.app
Katharine Collins (@kat-a-collins.bsky.social)
Today, Coefficient Giving is launching the Strep A Vaccine Fund, a multi-donor initiative to accelerate vaccine development against one of the world's most neglected infectious diseases relative to its scale. Strep A kills ~639,000 people a year. There is no vaccine. I think that can change 🧵
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Great to see GiveWell CEO Elie Hassenfeld on the TIME100 Philanthropy list, well chosen! time.com/collection/...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Pretty cool: @cayimby.bsky.social declined to endorse anyone for California governor because all the top candidates have strong housing plans
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
We're hiring 10+ grantmakers and senior generalists across our GCR teams. Most of our capital is bottlenecked on a tiny number of people working to identify, vet, and generate strong funding opportunities. Apply here by May 24: jobs.ashbyhq.com/coefficient...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Nobel laureate Al Roth has a great piece in @washingtonpost.com today on why we should compensate kidney donors. Kidney failure disproportionately hits Black and low-income Americans, costs Medicare $55B+/yr, and most people who need a transplant will die without one. 🧵
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
This piece reflects my updates over the last couple years really well www.update.news/p/the-table...
update.news
The tables have turned on AI sceptics
Epistemic conservatism no longer favours long timelines
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
How long do you have to work to afford basic commodities? @humanprogress.bsky.social's Simon Abundance Index has tracked "time prices" for 50 resources since 1980. Every single one has gotten cheaper! Full report: humanprogress.org/the-simon-a...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
The team behind my favorite graph - @ourworldindata.org - is hiring a writer. If you can explain complicated things in ways that change how people think AND you want that skill pointed at the world's largest problems, consider applying: ourworldindata.org/hiring-writ...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
The FDA accidentally froze Strep A vaccine development for 27 years. @asimovpress.bsky.social explains what happened and where things stand now. press.asimov.com/articles/strep
press.asimov.com
How to Build a Strep A Vaccine
After decades of scientific and regulatory delays, several Strep A vaccine candidates are entering clinical trials. Without further funding for phase 3 studies, however, many will be hamstrung.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
In the coming years, billions in new philanthropic capital could be unlocked. Whether that money is matched to the highest-impact opportunities is far from guaranteed. At CG, we’re hiring for a Managing Director, Philanthropic Advisory to make this influx of capital go as well as possible.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
I usually end up mostly reading fiction because it's easier and more fun than most nonfiction. But I read "And the Band Played On" recently and loved it. Incredibly info-dense, but extremely well-written and page-turning. Any recs for other great readable nonfiction like this?
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Great reporting from @chronphilanthropy.bsky.social on our grantee @cureswithinreach.bsky.social, which runs small trials testing whether existing, approved drugs might work for entirely different diseases.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Coefficient Giving recently passed $5 billion in total grants directed since we started in 2014. A few things about what that number actually represents 🧵
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Turns out "let people build homes" is a pretty intuitive political message! calmatters.org/housing/202...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
bsky.app/profile/vox...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Some of our best grants have been in talent, helping people find their way to high-impact careers. We think there's way more room to grow here, so we're launching an open RFP. If you run an org that helps people have an impact with their career, apply! coefficientgiving.org/funds/effec...
coefficientgiving.org
RFP on Effective Careers
We are excited to announce a new Request for Proposals (RFP) for effective career organizations, defined as initiatives devoted to providing mentorship, advice, and opportunities to help people pursue highly impactful careers. Through this RFP, we aim to identify and support additional efforts in the effective careers space and streamline the application process for potential […]
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Coefficient Giving directed over $1b in 2025, the most in our history. I wrote a more personal annual letter this year, focusing on what a decade of grantmaking has taught me, how I'm thinking about AI, and how we're grappling with giving at this scale. 🧵 Linking the PDF here: tinyurl.com/3sh3mwhp
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Very cool coverage of this project we're cofunding with the sloanfoundation.bsky.social: www.nature.com/articles/d4...
nature.com
Pop-up journals for policy research: can temporary titles deliver answers?
Nature - Journals that focus on specific research questions could help to bridge the science–policy gap, if they can attract researchers.
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Ryan Moulton @moultano.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
I have gradually been converted to lesswrong-ism by noting that as time has gone on I have been more wrong, and them less.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
New on our blog: a Q&A with Clare Donaldson of the Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) discussing a massive, solvable problem that still gets surprisingly little attention. 🧵 coefficientgiving.org/research/ho...
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Stefan Schubert @stefanschubert.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
China had almost 30 million births in the 1960s, but they have since fallen to less than 8 million. Since US and Indian births haven't fallen as much, this will have geopolitical consequences later this century. www.update.news/i/187511992/...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
"Now we have a special box of electricity that turns Reddit comments and old toaster manuals into cogent conversations about Shakespeare and molecular biology." Great piece from Gideon Lewis-Kraus on state of LLMs 10 years after his NYT article on Google Translate. www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
newyorker.com
What Is Claude? Anthropic Doesn’t Know, Either
Researchers at the company are trying to understand their A.I. system’s mind—examining its neurons, running it through psychology experiments, and putting it on the therapy couch.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Excited to share: the Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) Fund officially launched this week as an independent nonprofit. Coefficient Giving is proud to be an anchor funder. 🧵
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Aaron Strauss @aaronstrauss.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Research Obsession Day 1: What do we know about the impact of creators? And what does it have to do with Elon Musk? Featuring this incredible research by @eunjikim.bsky.social, Nate Lubin & others: arxiv.org/pdf/2512.15401
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
I donated a kidney a few years before German, in December, and now every year around the holidays I get an email from my recipient about what's going on in her life. Not at all why I donated but that email is now one of the things I most look forward to about the holidays every year.
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Just me or did @devex.com mash me up with Beto here? www.devex.com/news/devex-...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Great reflection in the NYT from German Lopez on donating his kidney, including this truly incredible line. (And he's yet another person inspired by @dylanmatt.bsky.social!) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Cool to see my former colleague Ajeya Cotra in @nytopinion.nytimes.com today. Here's her advice for high schoolers preparing for the future. Tough to operationalize! www.nytimes.com/interactive...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Last year, our science team stepped in with emergency funding to save TB vaccine research that was about to be shut down due to NIH cuts. Cool to see this new paper from some of those researchers randomly cross my desk (and cite my colleague Abie Rohrig)!
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
My talk at the 2025 Progress Conference is out! I talk about CG's support of science & tech progress, YIMBYism & SB 79 as case studies, why you should care about worst-case AI risks if you're pro-progress, and the relationship between progress and safety. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaO...
youtube.com
The role of philanthropy in promoting progress (and safety)
In this talk, Alexander Berger, CEO of Open Philanthropy, discusses a number of examples of how philanthropic funding can help accelerate progress, especiall...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
"When I made my 2029 prediction this is more-or-less the quality of result I had in mind." simonwillison.net/2026/Jan/19...
simonwillison.net
Scaling long-running autonomous coding
Wilson Lin at Cursor has been doing some experiments to see how far you can push a large fleet of "autonomous" coding agents: This post describes what we've learned from …
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Interesting paper from a grantee on productivity gains from LLM usage arxiv.org/pdf/2512.21316
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Cool annual impact report from our grantee @epochai.bsky.social, including many great testimonials. High-quality unbiased data on compute & model trends is really important! epoch.ai/blog/epoch-...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Really enjoyed this post from Beren Millidge thinking through what alignment looks like in singleton vs. multipolar AGI scenarios www.beren.io/2026-01-07-...
beren.io
AI Monotheism vs AI Polytheism
Epistemic note: This is the beginning of a planned series of posts trying to think about what a highly multi-polar post-AGI world would look like and to what extent humanity or human values could survive in such a world depending on our degree of alignment success. This is all highly...
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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Blocking new housing doesn't stop rich people from moving in. Instead, it means unleashing them on the existing housing stock. In SF, increased demand from the tech boom was not met with new supply, so landlords withdrew their rentals to sell to tech workers. 1/
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Really cool article about @sholtodavid.bsky.social's successful work finding fraudulent data in cancer research www.thetimes.com/uk/science/...
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Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
A reminder that we're hiring for several really important roles at Coefficient Giving! Learn more here: coefficientgiving.org/about-us/ca...
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