Halcyon CEO: AI safety's bottleneck is founders, not capital — it has seeded ~30 new orgs
The Cognitive Revolution · youtube · 2026-09-26
On The Cognitive Revolution, Halcyon founder and CEO Mike McCormick argues the bottleneck in AI safety, biosecurity, and cybersecurity is a shortage of experienced founders rather than capital.
- Halcyon's venture and nonprofit arms have supported roughly 30 new organizations — including Goodfire, AIUC, and Transluce — sometimes funding leaders before they pick a project.
- With critical timelines possibly unfolding in the next 1-4 years, he sees urgent need for independent capacity in interpretability, technical verification, and resilient governance.
- His thesis: technical safety must be paired with enforceable standards, commercial incentives, and capable institutions to manage catastrophic risks.
The conversation also covers mission-preservation governance, neglected safety areas, evaluating AI consciousness, and how to transition into AI safety careers.
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