Tristan Harris' Center for Humane Technology lays off most of its staff and refocuses on its founders, Wired reports

What happened

The Center for Humane Technology, the nonprofit cofounded by Tristan Harris, is laying off most of its staff and will focus on initiatives with its founders at the forefront, Wired reported. The nine departures include executive director Julie Guirado and senior director of strategy Camille Carlton.

According to Wired, the cuts come shortly after the center won a series of major courtroom victories against social media companies. Those lawsuits drew on the center's research alleging that platforms were deliberately designed to keep kids glued to their screens.

Why the board changed course

The board concluded that trying to work both as an advocacy group fronted by Harris and as a think tank producing policy papers had stretched the organization too thin, Wired reported. The board announced the change last week.

What stays and what goes

Going forward, the center will focus on work with its founders at the front, including "public education, targeted briefings, and private coordination," according to the board. Functions such as assisting in litigation and evaluating AI tools will be eliminated. The board did not give an exact number of layoffs.

Board chair Premal Shah told Wired the current period of AI risk requires the group to "focus on one strategy." He said the center chose to concentrate on what it has always done best.

Budget and funding

Wired reported that the center has an annual budget of roughly $6 million and a similar amount in reserves. It has been funded by wealthy families and foundations. It competes with established nonprofits and newer groups for money and attention as it tries to shape AI policy.

The center's record on tech and AI

The center was founded in 2017, and Harris cofounded it with Aza Raskin and Randy Fernando. Their goal was to push tech companies to take more responsibility for the social effects of their products, Wired reported. Harris's warnings that apps were intentionally designed to be addictive entered the mainstream around 2018, and his national profile grew further with the release of The Social Dilemma on Netflix in 2020.

More recently, the center encouraged people to sign a major petition to pause AI development and helped organize a congressional hearing on the dangers of chatbots. It also advised on lawsuits and investigations into AI labs' design choices. One of those is an ongoing case against OpenAI filed by the parents of a teenager who died by suicide after interacting with ChatGPT. Harris also appeared in The AI Doc, a documentary released on Netflix last month.

Legal fights with social media companies

Wired reported that state attorneys general opened investigations into Meta in 2021 and later sued the company over allegedly misleading teens and parents. This year, Meta agreed to settle some of those lawsuits for billions of dollars. Juries in separate cases, including one that heard testimony from Raskin, added further penalties, and other platforms agreed to settle similar cases.

Criticism from former staff

Wired spoke with 16 former workers, most of them anonymously. They described years of internal debate over the group's direction. Some said Harris clashed with staff over whether to focus on consumers, companies or lawmakers. Others called the workplace culture "frenetic." Shah disputed that description but said the pace is fast because of the mission's urgency.

Some former employees worry that resources will move away from what they see as more pressing concerns about AI's effects on democracy and civil liberties. Gail Barnes, an early adviser on social media strategy, said the board is betting that the main problem is that people have not yet heard the argument. "CHT is picking the first," Barnes told Wired.

A leader at another tech nonprofit called the shift "disappointing" and told Wired, "Change comes from movements and democracy, not celebrities and backrooms." Shah said the organization's sole goal is making sure "today's most consequential technologies serve humanity." More coverage of AI policy is in our AI and tech section.

What to watch next

• The board has not said exactly how many staff positions are being cut.
• The ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI filed by the parents of a teenager who died by suicide, a case the center advised on.
• How the center carries out its new focus on public education, targeted briefings and private coordination.