Constellation Incubator Program | Constellation Research Center

Program details

The Constellation Incubator supports ambitious founders who are committed to advancing AI safety, helping them at the earliest stages of their journey. Whether you’re still honing your idea or have already formed your team, we offer a mission-aligned environment to help you launch, build, and validate for-profits or non-profits addressing the challenges of transformative AI.

We believe entrepreneurs—and the organizations they create—will play a crucial role in shaping the future of AI safety. The Constellation Incubator helps the most promising initiatives get off the ground quickly and effectively.

We welcome applications from individual entrepreneurs strongly committed to launching a new AI safety-focused organization, as well as from early-stage teams currently in the validation phase.

Who we’re looking for

Our Incubator is designed specifically for:

Pre-idea entrepreneurs: Individuals strongly motivated to establish new organizations but still exploring and refining their ideas.

Early-stage organizations: Teams that have formed and are in the initial phases of validating their concept, achieving product-market fit, or clarifying their theory of change.

What you’ll gain

We provide early founders with the resources most critical at this stage:

Collaboration: Direct access to useful exchanges, feedback, and idea validation via the Constellation network.
Connections: Opportunity for facilitated introductions to funders, partners, and customers, including government entities and frontier labs.
Talent: A supportive environment where participants can find potential co-founders, advisors, and early employees who share a commitment to addressing critical AI challenges.‍
Workspace: Dedicated space at Constellation’s Berkeley workspace, promoting focused collaboration and reducing operational barriers. Participants are expected to spend at least two days per week in the office.

Program structure

Rolling admissions
4-month duration with the possibility of extension
Founder-only participation

Apply here

Program details

We will provide housing and transportation within Berkeley for the duration of the program. Additionally, we recommended Astra invitees to AI Safety Support (an Australian charity) for independent research grants and they have decided to provide grants of $15k for 10 weeks of independent research to accepted Astra applicants in support of their AI Safety research.

Fellows will conduct research from Constellation’s shared office space, and lunch and dinner will be provided daily. Individual advisors will choose when and how to interact with their fellows, but most advisors will work out of the Constellation office frequently. There will be regular invited talks from senior researchers, social events with Constellation members, and opportunities to receive feedback on research. Before the program begins, we may also provide tutorial support to fellows interested in going through Constellation and Redwood Research’s MLAB curriculum.

We expect to inform all applicants whether they have progressed to the second round of applications within a week of them applying, and to make final decisions by December 1, 2023. For more details on the application process, see the FAQ below. The deadline to apply has passed.

Frequently asked questions

If your question isn't answered here, please reach out to programs@constellation.org