Mauricio Baker, Anjay Friedman
This stream focuses on AI policy, especially technical governance topics. Tentative project options include: technical projects for verifying AI treaties, metascience for AI safety and governance, and proposals for tracking AI-caused job loss. Scholars can also propose their own projects.
Stream overview
Verifying international agreements on AI:
Verification of compliance could be crucial for international agreements on AI, and ultimately for safe and beneficial AI. Building on a recent paper, various follow-up projects are needed to make verification possible. These could include deep-dives into specific verification mechanisms or protocols, developing proof-of-concept implementations (e.g. of using Confidential Computing to verifiably implement a proof-of-training-data protocol), and further operationalizing problems to advance R&D.
Mentors
Mauricio researches AI policy at RAND and Oxford. His work has focused on verification of international agreements on AI. He’s more broadly interested in technical AI governance. Previously, Mauricio contracted with OpenAI and did a master's in Computer Science at Stanford University.
Mentorship style
We'll meet once or twice a week (~1 hr/wk total, as a team if it's a team project). I'm based in DC, so we'll meet remotely. I (Mauricio) will also be available for async discussion, career advising, and detailed feedback on research plans and drafts.
Fellows we are looking for
No hard requirements. Bonus points for research experience, AI safety and governance knowledge, writing and analytical reasoning skills, and experience relevant to specific projects.
Project selection
I'll talk through project ideas with scholar
The Winter 2026 cohort offers a wide range of research streams led by experts across AI alignment, interpretability, governance, and safety. Each stream provides its own research agenda, methodology, and mentorship focus.
