About Frothly
Independent since 1984
A not-for-profit institute for the age of thinking machines. No shareholders, no products and no conditions on our findings.
Our mission
Frothly was founded in San Francisco in 1984 to study a question that sounded like science fiction at the time: what happens to public life when machines begin to think, remember and decide on our behalf?
Four decades later the question is no longer hypothetical. We answer it the only way we know how — with independent research, open infrastructure and a refusal to let the systems that shape people’s lives operate in the dark.
We are a not-for-profit institute. We hold no shares, sell no products and accept no funding that comes with conditions on our findings. Our board is independent, our accounts are published in full and everything we produce is free to use.
Three principles, in order of precedence
Our charter was adopted at our founding and is binding on every program, grant and partnership we enter into. Each principle yields to the ones before it.
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First principle
Frothly will not build, fund or endorse technology that injures people — nor, through inaction, allow harm we are positioned to prevent.
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Second principle
We serve the communities we work with, except where that service would conflict with the First Principle.
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Third principle
We protect our own independence and continuity, as long as doing so does not conflict with the First or Second Principle.
Added by the board in 2009 and placed before the others: Frothly acts on behalf of humanity as a whole.
Four decades
1984
Theodora von Valancius founds Frothly in San Francisco with a staff of six and a mandate to study “thinking machines in public life.”
1994
Lazarus begins as a volunteer effort to rescue software from failing floppy disks.
2003
The Turing Registry opens in Zürich with forty-one voluntary filings.
2008
The first LoTek network goes live on a single block in Newark.
2009
The board adopts a fourth principle and numbers it zero, so that it precedes all the others.
2011
Glossia 1.0 is released and our Chiba office opens.
2017
Scramble launches with a toolkit built alongside working journalists.
2019
Blackwall begins independent pre-deployment evaluations of frontier AI systems.
2021
Our Vancouver office opens and hosts the first Citadel conference.
2026
The Turing Registry licenses its 11,000th system.
Leadership
All staff and fellows ›- Gregor EisenhornPresident & Chief Executive
- Dr. Susan CalvinChief Scientist
- Dr. Pasqal HaneumannChief Technology Officer
- Abelard VerengioChief of Staff
- Alizebeth BequinDirector, Privacy Programs
- Heinrix van CaloxGeneral Counsel
- Julian Alfred PankratzDirector of Communications
- Medea BetancoreDirector of Operations
- Harlon NaylHead of Security
Board of directors
Our board is independent of our funders. No funder holds a seat, and directors serve without pay.
- Emiel Regis Terzieff-GodefroyChairRetired professor of moral philosophy at Oxenfurt University. Chair since 2009.
- Glen RunciterTreasurerRuns a security consultancy in New York. Consults his late wife on every major decision.
- Rachael RosenDirectorA director of the Rosen Association and a frequent speaker on authenticity.
- Dr. Marie DelacroixDirectorSystems engineer who designed propulsion systems for long-range research vessels.
- Kerry EurodyneDirectorMusician and producer whose career spans five decades.
- Dr. Alfred LanningDirector EmeritusFormer director of research at U.S. Robots.
Offices
Five offices on three continents. Visitors are welcome by appointment.
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San Francisco
Headquarters, Blackwall and Scramble
SFO -
Vancouver
Lazarus and the Citadel conference
YVR -
Newark
LoTek
EWR -
Zürich
The Turing Registry
ZRH -
Chiba
Glossia
NRT