Foresight Institute Turns 40, Retells How Co-Founder Christine Peterson Coined "Open Source" in 1998
allisondman · x · 2026-10-06
Foresight Institute's 40th-anniversary newsletter revisits its history and previews upcoming programs.
Highlights:
- Founded October 8, 1986; its early bets on nanotech, machine intelligence, radical life extension, and cognitive science have largely reached the research frontier
- A look back at how co-founder Christine Peterson coined "open source" in 1998, solving the confusion around "free software" — the term that came to name the foundation of the modern internet
- Announcements: Vision Weekend USA (Nov 13–15, SF), an AI for science & safety RFP, new grantees, and the $10,000 Existential Hope Meme Prize
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