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 Constellation Founders Residency 

Where you build matters.

 
The Constellation Founders Residency is six months at Constellation for founders building AI safety and security organizations.
 
We are accepting applications until Nov 15, 2026, and the first cohort starts January 2027.
Apply

Six months, in person in Berkeley for 3 to 6 founding teams

 Free to apply and join; no equity taken
Desks, a Residency Partner, hiring help and funder introductions

Why here

There was nothing inevitable about Silicon Valley. What made it was a concentration of engineers, founders, investors, and companies, allowing people, money, and ideas to move easily. Each new company made the place more useful for the next one.

Economic geographers call this a cluster. Organizations near each other share talent and infrastructure, and find hires and funders more easily. They also pick up tacit knowledge: the things people know from experience but rarely write down, which mostly spread through working near each other.

AI safety has its cluster in Berkeley. For a new organization, being inside it can change who sees the work, challenges it, joins it, and helps carry it forward.
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Our Berkeley research center hosts select individuals and teams working on AI safety.
Learn more
Two people deep in discussion at a table.
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Constellation is an independent research center in Berkeley for people working on AI safety and security. Across seven floors, it is home to more than 25 organizations working on evaluations, alignment, control, governance, and policy. Constellation also hosts fellows, visiting researchers, funders, and people from frontier labs and government. 
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Constellation connects critical organizations to ensure advanced AI benefits humanity.
Trusted by the best
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"Constellation is the single place in the world with the highest density of AI safety talent. Period."

Aryan Bhatt, Member of Technical Staff, Redwood Research
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Who we're looking for

Our Incubator is designed specifically for:

Pre-idea entrepreneurs: Individuals strongly motivated to establish new organizations but still exploring and refining their ideas.

Early-stage organizations: Teams that have formed and are in the initial phases of validating their concept, achieving product-market fit, or clarifying their theory of change.

What you'll gain

We provide early founders with the resources most critical at this stage:

  • Collaboration: Direct access to useful exchanges, feedback, and idea validation via the Constellation network.
  • Connections: Opportunity for facilitated introductions to funders, partners, and customers, including government entities and frontier labs.
  • Talent: A supportive environment where participants can find potential co-founders, advisors, and early employees who share a commitment to addressing critical AI challenges.‍
  • Workspace: Dedicated space at Constellation’s Berkeley workspace, promoting focused collaboration and reducing operational barriers. Participants are expected to spend at least two days per week in the office.

How to apply

  • Rolling admissions
  • 4-month duration with the possibility of extension
  • Founder-only participation
Apply here

What the residency includes
Workspace

Desks for your team inside the building, among the people the rest of this page is about.

A Residency Partner
Someone from the Constellation team who knows your organization and helps with decisions, introductions, and problems as they come up.
Funder introductions
Connections to funders relevant to the work and stage of the organization.
People who have built organizations
Founders and operators across the building who have hired, fundraised, and made early institutional decisions in this field.
A cohort
Three to six founding teams building alongside one another.
Life in the building
Meals, events, happy hours, and the informal conversations between them.

How it works

The residency runs for six months, in person in Berkeley. There's no curriculum: you spend the time building your organization, and the program is built around that.

Each cohort starts with a kickoff week of onboarding and first introductions, and you meet your Residency Partner regularly from there. Around month four there's a review to look at what's changed and what the organization needs next. The residency ends with a conversation about where the organization goes from here. Most teams go on to build in their own space.
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The rest of the time, you're part of the everyday life of the building. A day might look like this: 

 8:45
Coffee with an interpretability researcher about some surprising results she's following up on today. 
10:30
A one-on-one with a visiting researcher about eval gaming.
12:30 
A lunch Q&A with a policy visitor on how Washington is weighing risks from advanced AI.
1:30 
A walk with your Residency Partner about team formation. They introduce you to someone who might be your first engineer.
2:00 
Heads down. Most of the day is building.
6:30 
Dinner with a few people from across the network.

Who we're looking for

The residency is for founders who’ve settled on what to build and are now turning it into an organization.

There's already plenty of support for people exploring ideas, and established organizations already have their own reputation, networks, and rhythm. The hard part is in between: you have a thesis, maybe some early funding and the start of a team, but not yet the hires, relationships, or structure to carry the organization forward. Money matters, but at this stage the scarcer things are the right people nearby and candid feedback from people who understand the work.
Apply

Nonprofits and for-profits are both welcome, as are solo founders and teams. Up to four people per organization can work from Constellation. You don't need prior founding experience, but you do need to be self-directed.
Important work: Projects that could improve AI safety, reduce catastrophic risk from AI, or improve how society handles transformative AI.
A tested thesis: A plan you've pressure-tested with people who know the area, often through other programs or fellowships.
The right founders: A reason you're the people to build this particular organization.
A reason to build here: Six months at Constellation would materially change what the organization can do.

What you'll gain

We provide early founders with the resources most critical at this stage:

  • Collaboration: Direct access to useful exchanges, feedback, and idea validation via the Constellation network.
  • Connections: Opportunity for facilitated introductions to funders, partners, and customers, including government entities and frontier labs.
  • Talent: A supportive environment where participants can find potential co-founders, advisors, and early employees who share a commitment to addressing critical AI challenges.‍
  • Workspace: Dedicated space at Constellation’s Berkeley workspace, promoting focused collaboration and reducing operational barriers. Participants are expected to spend at least two days per week in the office.

How to apply

  • Rolling admissions
  • 4-month duration with the possibility of extension
  • Founder-only participation
Apply here

Example projects we would be interested in:
Independent oversight and accountability

Build independent ways to assess what frontier AI developers are doing, investigate how deployed systems behave, and ensure AI used by governments remains accountable, transparent, and reversible.

Testing, monitoring, and verification

Create the capacity to test advanced AI systems, detect risks early, and verify commitments. This includes probing for misalignment and insider threats, checking safeguards around AI-enabled biology, and monitoring what models can do.

Collective decision-making
Help groups reason well about AI when the stakes are high, evidence is incomplete, and experts disagree.
Power, institutions, and economic change

Understand how transformative AI could shift power, work, and public finances—and identify the institutions needed to prevent concentrated control and manage those changes fairly.

How to apply

Tell us what you're building and why it matters, how you've tested the idea, and why Constellation. We'll also ask for references. Strong applicants are invited to one or two conversations with the program lead.
Applications open October 19 and close November 15. Acceptances go out in early December, and the program runs January 11 to July 2.

 

See frequently asked questions below.
Apply

Application
1
How selective is it?
How selective is it?
2
Can I apply if I haven't decided what to build?
Can I apply if I haven't decided what to build?

Not yet. The residency is for founders past the exploring stage. If you're still exploring, the Astra Fellowship pairs you with a senior mentor to scope a research direction or project.

3
Do I need to work on something from the project list?
Do I need to work on something from the project list?

No. The list is a sketch of things we'd be glad to see exist, not a set of priorities or funded slots. Most strong applications will probably be for things not on it.

4
Are you looking for nonprofits or for-profits?
Are you looking for nonprofits or for-profits?

Both. Most residents are nonprofits, given the shape of AI safety work, but for-profit projects with a strong safety-relevant thesis are welcome. What matters is that the work fits the criteria and would benefit from being here.

5
Do I need a co-founder? 
Do I need a co-founder? 

Not necessarily. Most founders come in with one by this stage, but solo founders are welcome and considered on the same terms.

6
What if the residency isn't quite right for me right now?
What if the residency isn't quite right for me right now?

If something is stopping you from applying, whether that's visa status, timing, team size, or the in-person requirement, tell us here. It helps us shape future cohorts, and we'll reach out if things change. 

Funding
1
Do you provide funding or take equity?
Do you provide funding or take equity?

We don't fund directly, and we never take equity. There's no cost to residents. We expect most of the teams we accept to already have funding from other sources. It isn't a requirement, though, and if you're accepted without it we can connect you to funders making grants of $250k and up.

2
Can I do the residency alongside other programs? 
Can I do the residency alongside other programs? 

Yes. Some residents may also be part of other incubators or funding programs, such as Project Tailwind. What matters is that you can be at Constellation at least three days a week. If you're in or applying to another program, mention it in your application.

Program
1
Can I bring other team members?
Can I bring other team members?

Yes. Up to four people per organization can work from Constellation.

2
Do I need to have founded before?
Do I need to have founded before?

No. People across the building have founded, run, and funded organizations, and residents draw on them to pressure-test specific decisions. 

3
How is this different from the Generator Residency?
How is this different from the Generator Residency?
Generator is a three-month program for individual generalists building ecosystem projects. The Founders Residency is for founding teams building organizations.
4
What happens at the end of the residency?
What happens at the end of the residency?
Most teams move into their own space or build elsewhere. Where it's a fit, some may stay connected to Constellation as affiliates.

Logistics
1
Can I participate remotely? 
Can I participate remotely? 

No. The residency is built on proximity, so we ask residents to be at Constellation at least three days a week on average. Occasional travel is fine.

2
Do you provide fiscal sponsorship? 
Do you provide fiscal sponsorship? 

No. We don't provide fiscal sponsorship or back-office operations support. The residency focuses on space, network, and hands-on program support.

3
Do I need U.S. work authorization? 
Do I need U.S. work authorization? 

Yes. Constellation can’t currently sponsor or arrange visas, so you’ll need the right to work in the U.S. already, whether through citizenship, a green card, or a work-authorizing visa. If visa status is what’s stopping you from applying, let us know here: we’re actively looking into options for future cohorts and will be in touch if that changes. If you’re already in the U.S. and unsure whether your current visa qualifies, mention it in your application.

Have a question about the Founders Residency?

If you’re unsure where you fit, our team can help you find a match.
Contact our team
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