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It was presented as a place where the world’s leading technologists, scientists and philosophers would gather to find out how effective altruism and artificial intelligence can combine to create a global force to eradicate poverty and improve life for all.
Effective Ventures Foundation (EVF), which defines effective altruism as “using evidence and reason to understand how to benefit others as much as possible”, decided that £14.9m of its money would be best spent on purchase of Wytham Abbey, a 15th-century Grade I listed estate near Oxford.
The 27-bedroom house, which has been visited over the years by Queen Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell and Queen Victoria, has been turned into a haven for movement believers, including the now-imprisoned founder of FTX Sam Bankman-Friedbillionaire Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskowitz and Estonian billionaire Jaan Talin, who made his fortune investing early in Skype.
However, just two years after purchasing the mansion, which earned the nickname “The Efficient Castle of Altruism”, EVF has listed it for sale for £15 million.
The foundation purchased the abbey with grants from Open Philanthropy, the funding organization co-founded by Moskowitz. Proceeds will be used to “support high-impact charities,” it said.
This comes soon after EVF’s parent group, Effective Ventures, announced that it has paid nearly $27 million to creditors of FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange founded and run by Bankman-Fried. The The founder of FTX was jailed in March for 25 years for his role in the fraudulent collapse of the company.
Zachary Robinson, CEO of Effective Ventures US, said the US and UK branches have reached collective agreements with FTX properties. “As part of these agreements, EV US and EV UK have paid the estate $26.8 million between them, an amount equal to 100% of the funds the entities received from FTX and the FTX Foundation in 2022. We strongly condemn the fraud and the actions underlying the Judgment of Sam Bankman-Fried.
In its short tenure as a purported global center for promoting effective altruism and AI, Wytham Abbey has hosted just a few workshops, including Pluralism in Existential Risk, AI Fables, andWhat is the nature of purposeful agency and its implications for AI alignment?”.
The estate, which is being marketed by Savills, is set in 9.3 hectares (23 acres) of gardens, woodland and parkland in the Wytham conservation area near Oxford. “Although grand and surrounded by extensive grounds, the setting belies the abbey’s location, just three miles from Oxford,” the agent said. “Whether it continues as a residential event venue or as a family residence, it offers great flexibility.”
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A spokesperson for Effective Ventures said: “EV agreed with the main donors to the Abbey at the time of the original purchase that they could recommend that EV sell the property if they felt there was a greater impact on the use of the asset.
“They made that recommendation this year and the EV boards made the decision to sell the property and use the proceeds from the sale to support high-impact charities.”
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