NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE INC

As filed

Subsection

03

NTEE code

Q41

Classification

1000

Street

1776 EYE STREET NW SUITE 1000

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

• Biological Policy and Programs (NTI | bio). In 2025, NTI | bio reduced biological risks imperiling humanity by strengthening biotechnology governance, reducing the risk of bioweapon development and use, and fostering the next generation of global biosecurity leaders. The AIxBio Global Forum, launched by NTI | bio, emerged as the leading international platform for collective action to reduce risks at the intersection of AI and the life sciences (AIxBio). The Forum's High-Level Statement on Biosecurity Risks at the Convergence of AI and the Life Sciences, released in June 2025 with prominent signatories, outlined escalating AIxBio risks and called for urgent global action to establish policy and technical guardrails to prevent misuse of AIxBio capabilities while supporting innovation. During the Munich Security Conference, NTI convened senior policymakers, technologists, and security experts for a high-level tabletop exercise simulating an AI-enabled biological attack by an extremist group that resulted in a devastating pandemic. The resulting report, Safeguarding Against Global Catastrophe, delivered concrete actions for governments, industry, and philanthropic organizations, including funding a comprehensive research and development agenda to establish effective guardrails for AIxBio technologies and applications. In August NTI | bio released Enhancing Transparency for Bioscience Research and Development, proposing practical measures to improve confidence in treaty compliance and build more credible capabilities to identify non-compliance. These ideas, arriving as states parties reopened dormant discussions on Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) verification, were welcomed as constructive contributions to strengthening the international ban on bioweapon development and use. NTI | bio advanced the International Bio Funders Compact, a groundbreaking commitment to embed biosecurity considerations into life science grantmaking. Through the Bio Funders Forum, NTI | bio co-convened leading science funders to share best practices and develop risk-reduction strategies to advance life science research advances safely and responsibly. In December, NTI | bio released Guidance for Assessing Biosecurity and Biosafety Risks, providing funders a practical, three-step framework to evaluate and mitigate risks in research proposals. NTI | bio's Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition challenged young leaders to wrestle with the evolving definition of biological weapons and propose actions the international community should take to reduce associated risks. The winning team recommended updates to the BWC to address emerging threats targeting critical infrastructure and digital systems. The winners presented at the December 2025 BWC Working Group meetings, along with seven additional rising biosecurity leaders-all part of NTI's Next Generation Delegation. NTI | bio expanded its engagement with Congress to strengthen U.S. biosecurity and modernize biotechnology governance. Partnering with U.S. Senator Todd Young, NTI | bio hosted Biosecurity and Innovation in the Age of AI, advancing policy recommendations to strengthen biosecurity standards and the U.S. bioeconomy. This event and related efforts highlighted critical gaps in the current biotechnology oversight landscape, including the absence of a coordinating federal authority on biosafety and biosecurity, uneven adoption of DNA synthesis screening, and increasing risks of misuse of AI-enabled biology tools, as well as practical policy actions to address them.

  Expenses $4,848,646 · Grants $348,226

• Communications and Public Education (COMMS). With reports about possible resumption of nuclear weapons testing for the first time since 1992, NTI's Critical Mass project mobilized and expanded the Nevadans Against Nuclear Weapons Testing coalition, organized in 2024. Nevada is the only state with the infrastructure for testing, and the project helped to create a political bulwark against resumed testing, given strong bipartisan opposition to it in the state. NTI worked with business, tourism, conservation, and community groups, as well as veterans and other victims of past nuclear tests to pass a unanimous, bipartisan resolution in the state legislature urging the federal government to uphold the decades-long explosive nuclear weapons testing moratorium. Coalition members, including powerful interests like the Resort Association and Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, testified for the resolution. After passage, it was transmitted to officials and Nevada's Congressional delegation in Washington. Knowing that popular culture drives public sentiment and ultimately public policy, NTI in 2025 deepened engagement with leaders in film and television to help shape how millions of people understand nuclear threats. We consulted on Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow's film A House of Dynamite, which depicts what happens when a single, unattributed nuclear-armed missile is launched at the United States. NTI guided a key creative choice: position the nuclear weapon itself, not any single country, as the film's central antagonist. More than 70 million people have seen the film on Netflix. NTI's Ernest J. Moniz published an op-ed in Variety hailing the film as a wake-up call. In 2025, as the world marked 80 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, NTI recruited more than 50 cultural leaders, including Bigelow, James Cameron, Michael Douglas, Walton Goggins, Julianne Moore, and Olivia Munn-to sign a pledge committing to use their platforms to highlight nuclear weapons risks and imagine a future without them. The letter was published in The New York Times and Variety and garnered widespread media coverage. Academy Award-winning director Cameron then joined Moniz for an hour-long conversation with CNN's Christiane Amanpour about today's nuclear weapon threats and his plans to adapt the book Ghosts of Hiroshima into a film. NTI also launched the Critical Mass Cultural Advisory Council, a group of entertainment industry leaders, including producer Lawrence Bender and Creative Artists Agency's Travis Merriweather committed to nuclear storytelling and risk reduction. In partnership with a group called Popshift, NTI brought together dozens of TV writers and nuclear experts to generate new story ideas and surface unsung heroes who have helped make the world safe from nuclear catastrophe. NTI collected insights from the gathering and released a new storytelling playbook with tips for those working on projects that involve nuclear storylines and launched a pitch contest with Popshift for writers developing shows with nuclear-focused themes. NTI also grew its social media following exponentially in 2025. Starting off the year with a new short-form video program and a viral video, we grew our follower count on Instagram by more than 8,000 percent and our engagements by nearly 20,000 percent. The success of memes and short-form videos is also driving higher views and engagement across all NTI content.

  Expenses $4,132,924 · Grants $235,000

• 2025 GNPP Accomplishments: In 2025, the Global Nuclear Policy Program led NTI's efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce the risk of nuclear use. In an increasingly fraught geopolitical environment, NTI worked to build strategic stability in the U.S.-Russia-China nuclear relationships, strengthen global guardrails against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and promote the conduct of unilateral fail-safe reviews to prevent the accidental or unauthorized use of a nuclear weapon. In April, NTI's paper, "Navigating Disruption in the Global Nuclear Order," shared findings and recommendations on reducing nuclear risks drawn from in-person and virtual meetings with experts across the United States, Europe, and Asia. NTI launched an innovative strategic stability dialogue with the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies to address U.S. and Chinese threat perceptions, nuclear policy and posture, and the increasingly complex strategic environment, which now includes advanced conventional weapons, a contested and militarized outer space domain, and the use of emerging technology like AI for military purposes. The dialogue will result in concrete recommendations for how the two governments can reduce the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation. NTI also stood up a new Deterrence Study Group, with leading US and international experts on nuclear deterrence and risk reduction. During a time when multilateral nuclear guardrails are under pressure and proliferation risks are rising, NTI launched a new project to strengthen nuclear-weapon-free zones, which contribute to global stability by taking vast swaths of the planet unavailable for nuclear-weapons-related activities, including the possession, transit, testing, stationing, and manufacturing of nuclear weapons. Virtual and in-person dialogues with diplomats, international civil servants, academics, and civil society generated concrete suggestions to strengthen the zones in the new strategic reality. These innovative recommendations include practical solutions for improving zone governance, facilitating cross-zone collaboration, and identifying opportunities for zone leadership on cutting edge issues like preventing a resumption of nuclear testing and using emerging technology to reduce nuclear risks. Finally, in 2025 NTI continued our work to advance nuclear fail-safe reviews, reviews to prevent the accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons particularly in the context of emerging technology. An NTI delegation to India and virtual workshop with Pakistani experts built awareness and support among regional policymakers and experts. In October, Sam Nunn and Ernie Moniz led a delegation to Beijing to promote Chinese development of unilateral fail-safe reviews and explore a potential U.S.-China initiative to urge all states possessing nuclear weapons to conduct their own rigorous reviews. NTI also worked to build support for fail-safe reviews among non-nuclear weapon states, including through events hosted by the German government at the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting in April and UN First Committee in October.

  Expenses $3,623,940 · Grants $1,100,266

• Materials Risk Minimization Program (MRM).

  Expenses $3,211,467

• FutureSafe: AI and Emerging Technologies

  Expenses $851,168

• Government Relations

  Expenses $579,613

• Other Program Services (Strategic Initiatives, and the Distinguished Fellows program)

  Expenses $238,169

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.

The first 25 listed. 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

  $16,840,825

  Expenses

  $23,281,998

  Contributions

  $13,710,945

  Grants paid

  $1,683,492

• 2024

  Revenue

  $19,649,784

  Expenses

  $26,073,759

  Contributions

  $15,610,412

  Grants paid

  $5,047,285

• 2023

  Revenue

  $19,922,560

  Expenses

  $18,975,625

  Contributions

  $17,589,134

  Grants paid

  $578,282

• 2022

  Revenue

  $14,097,360

  Expenses

  $19,486,859

  Contributions

  $13,818,439

  Grants paid

  $1,109,633

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

  $12,379,355

  Expenses

  $21,665,737

  Assets (EOY)

  $89,948,355

• 2020 · 990

  Revenue

  $14,889,914

  Expenses

  $23,145,623

  Assets (EOY)

  $99,105,311

• 2019 · 990

  Revenue

  $41,778,299

  Expenses

  $24,559,368

  Assets (EOY)

  $83,647,094

• 2018 · 990

  Revenue

  $30,835,854

  Expenses

  $19,279,174

  Assets (EOY)

  $64,292,303

• 2017 · 990

  Revenue

  $39,240,950

  Expenses

  $14,898,706

  Assets (EOY)

  $50,814,134

• 2016 · 990

  Revenue

  $14,768,707

  Expenses

  $13,157,716

  Assets (EOY)

  $26,049,009

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

• Brown University Brown University

  $300,000

  2025 · Support for work performed on the Africa Health Security Index

• Panorama Global

  $300,000

  2022 · Grant to Panorama Global to support efforts to grow political will for financing health security and advocate for global health security and investment.

• Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

  $235,000

  2024 · To maintain research on NTI's website

• Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

  $235,000

  2023 · Support for updating and maintaining content on NTI's website.

• Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

  $235,000

  2025 · Support to maintain research for NTI's website

• Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

  $235,000

  2022 · Grant to Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey to support to publish and maintain research for NTI s website

• Brown University Office of Sponsored Projects

  $207,782

  2023 · To support the Global Health Security Index.

• Columbia University

  $188,000

  2022 · Grant to Strengthen biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, build accountability for global health security progress, and counter catastrophic biological risks.

• Horizon 2045 Foundation Horizon 2045 Foundation

  $100,000

  2025 · Support for research work on disruptive legal and normative strategies to help shift the nuclear weapons system towards disarmament and prohibition.

• Georgia Tech Research Corporation

  $80,000

  2022 · Grant to Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC) to support the graduate seminar on re-envisioning nuclear security

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

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

• SILICON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

  $7,831,500

  2023 · International Development

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $564,100

  2022 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $502,150

  2023 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $187,050

  2024 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• PLOUGHSHARES FUND INC

  $177,000

  2023 · 1. TO SUPPORT STAFF TIME DEDICATED TO THE INVOLVEMENT ON THE CORE TEAM FOR THE STOP THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE ROUNDTABLE.2. TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NARRATIVE STRATEGY FOR SHIFTING POLITICAL WILL IN FAVOR OF NUCLEAR RISK REDUCTION AND THE ELIMINATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.3. TO SUPPORT THE GENDER CHAMPIONS IN NUCLEAR POLICY (GCNP) INITIATIVE.

• NEW VENTURE FUND

  $128,640

  2022 · PUBLIC SAFETY, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RELIEF

• DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING

  $90,050

  2022 · INTERNATIONAL, FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING

  $49,450

  2024 · INTERNATIONAL, FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM

  $44,500

  2023 · FOR RECIPIENT'S EXEMPT PURPOSE

• COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

  $40,000

  2024 · GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

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

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