evaluator; distance from a lab: 2
Apollo Research
Scorecard
Scheming and deception specialist; ran evaluations for every major lab; converted to a public benefit corporation in January 2026.
Public benefit corp, London, UK / San Francisco, US. Confidence high. Domains: scheming, autonomy, assurance. Scores by preset: Lab procurement 67; Regulator or auditor 69; Public trust 64; Equal weights 66. Weakest dimension: funding 2/4.
What would move the score. Disclose revenue concentration by client and separate the product business from the evaluation practice.
Funding 2/4
Labs pay per engagement; otherwise diversified.
evidence: tier 1 (filing/index)
Anchor 2 on funding given the cited signals.
- Requests fair-market-value compensation from the parties it evaluates; revenue depends on evaluated labs.
Our Norms on Security, Science Communication and Conflicts of Interest (Apollo Research, 2025-11-26) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14 - SFF recommendations of about $1.1M and Coefficient grants of about $4.4M per the index snapshot; both funders are one to two steps from an Anthropic investor.
evaluators.csv (24 evaluators: Coefficient and SFF totals, lab money, government contracts, leadership) (Kevin Bass (GitHub), 2026-09-14) tier 2 ledgerunverifiable Coefficient Giving grants index (Coefficient Giving, 2026-09-11) tier 1 indeximported2026-09-11 - Self-reported philanthropic base: about $1.5M from Open Philanthropy and about $500K from SFF at the time of its Manifund listing; a later index total of $4.41M is recorded as an imported row and the two figures are not reconciled.
Apollo Research on Manifund (Manifund, 2024) tier 3 selfconfirmed evaluators.csv (24 evaluators: Coefficient and SFF totals, lab money, government contracts, leadership) (Kevin Bass (GitHub), 2026-09-14) tier 2 ledgerunverifiable2026-09-15 - Open: Reconcile the self-reported $1.5M with the index total of $4.41M by date.
Governance 2/4
For-profit or PBC with a published COI policy.
evidence: tier 3 (self)
Anchor 2: for-profit PBC with a published COI policy and designated mission seats; investors include a lab investor. Previously mis-scored at 3 as if nonprofit.
- Published four-rule COI policy: no outcome-contingent pay, no side grants or investments from evaluated labs, recusal for financial interests, no misrepresentation.
Our Norms on Security, Science Communication and Conflicts of Interest (Apollo Research, 2025-11-26) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14 - Converted from fiscally sponsored nonprofit to a public benefit corporation in January 2026.
Apollo Research is becoming a PBC (Apollo Research, 2026-01-20) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14 - January 2026 seed round led by 50Y with Juniper, Macroscopic Ventures (an Anthropic Series A and B investor), Common Metal, SAIF and individuals; amount not stated. Mission board seats designated as a governance safeguard.
Apollo Research is becoming a PBC (investment section) (Apollo Research, 2026-01-20) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14 - Mission seats on the PBC board are held by directors independent of the company and its funders, with a mandate to prioritize mission.
Apollo Research is becoming a PBC (governance) (Apollo Research, 2026-01-20) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-15 - Macroscopic Ventures, a participant in the seed round, lists Anthropic Series A and Series B among its investments.
Macroscopic Ventures investor profile (Premier Alts, 2026) tier 4 pressconfirmed Apollo Research is becoming a PBC (investment section) (Apollo Research, 2026-01-20) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026 - Open: Round size and Macroscopic's share.
- Open: Who holds the mission seats.
Personnel 3/4
Recusal policy and disclosure of lab ties.
evidence: tier 3 (self)
Anchor 3 on personnel given the cited signals.
- Recusal rule for any individual with a financial interest in an evaluated organization.
Our Norms on Security, Science Communication and Conflicts of Interest (Apollo Research, 2025-11-26) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14
Access depth (lab-granted) 3/4
Helpful-only or weights-level access, chain of thought, logs, on-site.
evidence: tier 3 (self)
Anchor 3 on access given the cited signals.
- Ran pre-deployment evaluations for all major labs; contracted by UK AISI for deception evaluations.
About (Apollo Research, 2026) tier 3 selfconfirmed The First Year of Apollo Research (Apollo Research, 2024) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14
Scope control 3/4
Evaluator sets scope and can add questions.
evidence: tier 3 (self)
Anchor 3 on scope given the cited signals.
- Co-authored anti-scheming research with OpenAI while acting as its external scheming evaluator.
About (Apollo Research, 2026) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14
Publication rights 3/4
Publishes; redaction limited to security; redactions disclosed.
evidence: tier 3 (self)
Anchor 3 on publication given the cited signals.
- Record of adverse findings published, including in-context scheming and evaluation awareness.
About (Apollo Research, 2026) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14
Method transparency 3/4
Tasks or code partly open.
evidence: tier 3 (self)
Anchor 3 on methods given the cited signals.
- Publishes evaluation methodology and papers; differential publishing policy documented.
Our Norms on Security, Science Communication and Conflicts of Interest (Apollo Research, 2025-11-26) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14
Role incompatibility 2/4
Consults for labs.
evidence: tier 3 (self)
Anchor 2 on products given the cited signals.
- Sells Watcher, a monitoring product, into the ecosystem it evaluates.
About (Apollo Research, 2026) tier 3 selfconfirmed2026-09-14
Traced money and ties
hop 1: 1 row; unattributed: 1 row. Confirmed rows: 2 of 2 (2 quarantined: T08, T33). Dollar sums: confirmed + unaudited USD rows only; imported figures are not re-derived and never summed. Second hop traced for 1 of 2 sources: untraced Fifty Years (50Y). Ties: Macroscopic Ventures (formerly Center for Emerging Risk Research) (investor, distance 1, confirmed). Bounded negatives on file: 0.
Ledger
Money in
- T08 from Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy): grant $4.41M; quarantined — excluded from sums, 2021-2025. cumulative differstier 1 indexhttps://coefficientgiving.org/
- T31 from Fifty Years (50Y): investment undisclosed, 2026-01-20. seed round led by 50Y with Juniper, Macroscopic, Common Metal, SAIF, Ocean, Progress Fund, individuals; amount not stated confirmedtier 3 selfhttps://www.apolloresearch.ai/blog/apollo-research-is-becoming-a-pbc
- T32 from Macroscopic Ventures (formerly Center for Emerging Risk Research): investment undisclosed, 2026-01-20. participant in the seed round confirmedtier 3 selfhttps://www.apolloresearch.ai/blog/apollo-research-is-becoming-a-pbc
- T33 from Survival and Flourishing Fund: recommendation $1.13M; quarantined — excluded from sums, 2023-2025. SFF recommendations unverifiabletier 3 selfhttps://survivalandflourishing.fund/recommendations
Roles hosted
- R37 Macroscopic Ventures (formerly Center for Emerging Risk Research): investor, 2026-01. supersedes R29 confirmedhttps://www.apolloresearch.ai/blog/apollo-research-is-becoming-a-pbc
- R38 Fifty Years (50Y): investor, 2026-01. lead confirmedhttps://www.apolloresearch.ai/blog/apollo-research-is-becoming-a-pbc
Funding graph, focused
Neighbours at full strength, everything else faded. Hover any name to move the focus; click a name to open its page.