University of Oxford

A university and its former AI-risk institute

Oxford's AI history includes the Future of Humanity Institute, founded in 2005 within the university's Faculty of Philosophy. The group studied risks from advanced technology, including machine intelligence, and produced work such as Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence and research on robust and beneficial AI. Oxford Martin School support belonged to an earlier period ending in 2012. [2][3]

The institute closed on April 16, 2024, after the Faculty declined to renew remaining contracts. FHI's account attributes its difficulties to administrative restrictions within the Faculty; that is the institute's account of its closure, rather than an independent judgment of the university's motives. [2]

Oxford gives evidence of teaching in 1096 but explicitly says there is no clear foundation date. That historical evidence is therefore not recorded as a precise founding date for the university. Nor does the continued presence of an archived FHI program page mean the closed institute still operates. [1][3]