I've been doing fieldbuilding in the EA/AI safety space for 7+ years, and imo the team behind a project is one of the strongest predictors of whether it will work. Jessica who is leading SAIGE has consistently impressed me — with execution and with the ability to learn and adapt rapidly. In roughly two months, she has assembled a team of volunteers that launched an incubator with a strong mentor lineup for a first-time unfunded program, secured notable experts on AI safety as speakers, and hit nearly 200 registrations for a launch event. All of this while the project is entirely self-funded and volunteer-run.
SAIGE is still figuring out exactly what role it should play. But what I've seen so far is a team that iterates fast, partners smartly, and builds real momentum.
The underlying thesis is strong: Germany has an enormous pool of STEM and engineering talent that is almost entirely disconnected from AI safety work. There's no national infrastructure to change that. SAIGE is the most serious attempt I've seen to build it.
In my mind, this Manifund round isn't about fully funding a mature organisation. It's about giving SAIGE the runway to show other grantmakers that this team can deliver. From what I've seen so far, they can.