PROJECT LIBERTY INSTITUTE

As filed

Subsection

03

NTEE code

U05

Classification

2800

Street

501 WEST 30TH ST 37 FL

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2025

• PROJECT LIBERTY INSTITUTE CONDUCTS AND PROVIDES FUNDING FOR RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS THAT FURTHER THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC AND THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON SOCIETY, INCLUDING AN ENHANCED UNDERSTANDING OF, AND ADVANCEMENT OF, DATA PRIVACY, ONLINE RELATIONSHIPS, AND NEW DIGITAL GOVERNANCE AND DIGITAL SHARED ECONOMIC MODELS.

  Expenses $3,274,944 · Grants $1,570,000

• PROJECT LIBERTY INSTITUTE ORGANIZES AND PARTICIPATES IN REGULAR EVENTS, CONVENINGS AND EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGNS OF TECHNOLOGISTS, ETHICISTS, LEGAL EXPERTS, ENTREPRENEURS, SOCIAL INNOVATORS AND OTHER EXPERTS IN THE UNITED STATES, UNITED KINGDOM, FRANCE, AND ELSEWHERE TO FOSTER DIALOGUE AND DEVELOP COMPREHENSIVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO EXPLORE AND ADVANCE BETTER MODELS OF DIGITAL ECOSYSTEMS.

  Expenses $924,753 · Grants $380,000

As filed on the 2025 return.

Officers and directors · 2025

As listed in Part VII of the 2025 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

• 2025

  Revenue

  $11,425,472

  Expenses

  $4,886,388

  Contributions

  $11,425,418

  Grants paid

  $1,950,000

• 2024

  Revenue

  $26,552,436

  Expenses

  $6,068,091

  Contributions

  $10,928,013

  Grants paid

  $285,000

• 2023

  Revenue

  $15,048,195

  Expenses

  $9,401,973

  Contributions

  $15,054,301

  Grants paid

  $1,406,878

• 2022

  Revenue

  $13,800,000

  Expenses

  $39,098,768

  Contributions

  $13,800,000

  Grants paid

  $36,620,545

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

• 2021 · 990

  Revenue

  $5,000,000

  Expenses

  $4,700,000

  Assets (EOY)

  $300,000

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

• CORTICO

  $7,325,581

  2022 · SUPPORT CORTICO'S DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS TO ADVANCE, ACCELERATE, AND INTEGRATE THE REALTALK SYSTEM - A SOCIAL NETWORK DESIGNED FOR AUTHENTIC DIALOGUE, DEEP LISTENING AND CONNECTION - AND ITS TRANSITION TO THE PROJECT LIBERTY DECENTRALIZED SOCIAL NETWORK PROTOCOL (DSNP).

• MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

  $7,325,581

  2022 · PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE MIT CENTER FOR CONSTRUCTIVE COMMUNICATION'S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS TO ADVANCE, ACCELERATE AND DEPLOY THE REALTALK SYSTEM - A SOCIAL NETWORK DESIGNED FOR AUTHENTIC DIALOGUE, DEEP LISTENING AND CONNECTION.

• GLOBAL IMPACT

  $1,000,000

  2025 · SUPPORTS THE ROBUST OPEN ONLINE SAFETY TOOLS TRUST AND SAFETY HUB INITIATIVE.

• ISSUE ONE

  $500,000

  2023 · SUPPORT THE ORGANIZATION TO DEVELOP AND HOST EDUCATIONAL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES THAT EXPLORE THE NEGATIVE MENTAL, CIVIC AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, PARTICULARLY SOCIAL MEDIA.

• COMMON SENSE MEDIA

  $425,000

  2022 · RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF A PROJECT CURRENTLY KNOWN AS THE "DUTY OF CARE" PROJECT WHICH WILL DELIVER AN ONLINE HARMS MAP AND HAS THE PURPOSE OF ESTABLISHING A DUTY OF CARE STANDARD TO COMPEL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO BE ACCOUNTABLE TO THEIR USERS AND SOCIETY.

• HETERODOX ACADEMY

  $250,000

  2023 · SUPPORT ORGANIZATION IN HOSTING DISCUSSIONS THAT BRING TOGETHER EDUCATORS FROM MULTIPLE FIELDS WITH TECHNOLOGIST TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON DEMOCRATIC AND EPISTEMIC INSTITUTIONS. CONDUCT A MEMBERSHIP DRIVE TO LEVERAGE COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND INCREASE MEMBERSHIP.

• HETERODOX ACADEMY

  $250,000

  2022 · ENABLE THE ORGANIZATION TO HOST DISCUSSIONS BRINGING TOGETHER EDUCATORS FROM MULTIPLE FIELDS WITH TECHNOLOGISTS TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON DEMOCRATIC AND EPISTEMIC INSTITUTIONS AS WELL AS CONDUCT A MEMBERSHIP DRIVE TO EXPAND THE ORGANIZATION'S COMMUNITY.

• ETH ZURICH FOUNDATION (USA) INC

  $200,000

  2025 · SUPPORTS RESEARCH ON EVALUATING THE ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT, DESIGN AND DEPLOYMENT OF AI, WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON ASSESSING THE POTENTIAL FOR AI GOVERNANCE TOOLS TO ENHANCE HUMAN RIGHTS AND INDIVIDUAL AGENCY.

• BERKELEY EXISTENTIAL RISK INITIATIVE

  $150,000

  2025 · SUPPORTS THE GREENEARTH RESEARCH PROJECT TO EVALUATE THE APPEAL AND ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF AN AI-DRIVEN, PROSOCIAL RECOMMENDER BY BUILDING THE REQUIRED INFRASTRUCTURE AND TESTING ITS APPLICATION AMONG ACTIVE USERS AND COMMUNITIES ON AN OPEN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM.

• MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

  $120,000

  2025 · SUPPORTS ADVANCED NETWORK ARCHITECTURE GROUP'S RESEARCH TO DEVELOP A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW INTERNET APPLICATIONS WITH A STRUCTURE BASED ON DECENTRALIZED CONTROL CAN BE VIABLE IN A MARKET PLACE DOMINATED BY LARGE ACTORS THAT HOLD CENTRALIZED CONTROL OVER THEIR SYSTEM.

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

No itemized grant names this organization as a recipient. Only grants over $5,000 are itemized, and only by filers of the full Form 990.

Taxable family

From Schedule R Parts I, III and IV: entities that legally are the filer, and taxable partnerships, corporations and trusts it is related to. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money.

Other IRS files