This page summarizes the current status of Science DAO, AI Internet-Meritocracy (AIIM), its evidence base, governance, funding, and limitations. Where a claim is experimental or not independently validated, we say so explicitly.
What is Science DAO?
Science DAO is a project developing and testing tools for funding science, open-source software, and related public-interest work. Its flagship initiative is AI Internet-Meritocracy (AIIM), an experimental AI-assisted allocation system.
Is Science DAO currently a DAO?
No. “Science DAO” is the project and brand name. It is not currently operating as a fully decentralized autonomous organization. However, AIIM’s quorum-based voting mechanism is implemented and operational. Broader DAO-based governance and non-custodial infrastructure remain under development; in extraordinary cases, an administrator may intervene as a fallback.
What is AI Internet-Meritocracy (AIIM)?
AIIM is an experimental system intended to help allocate available donated funds to researchers, open-source developers, and other eligible contributors using AI-assisted evaluation of documented work. Its evaluations are heuristic judgments, not validated measurements of a person’s scientific or economic value.
What currently works?
The project has a working beta, AIIM payment transactions can be recorded on-chain, and quorum-based voting is implemented. The current implementation still uses off-chain Node.js components and administrative or custodial components. Fully decentralized governance and non-custodial infrastructure remain under development, and extraordinary administrator intervention remains possible as a fallback.
Has AIIM been independently validated?
Not yet at the level needed to treat its evaluations as established scientific measurements. Science DAO is building a public evidence base through preregistered and adversarial testing, reproducibility checks, audit logs, and independent review. See Testing & Evidence and Independent Review.
What are the main known limitations?
AI-generated evaluations may contain factual errors, model bias, prompt-gaming vulnerabilities, incomplete evidence, and unstable judgments across prompts or models. Funding also depends on available money and eligibility rules. These limitations are part of what the testing program is intended to measure.
Who controls donations?
Donations for Science DAO projects are legally received and controlled by Victor Porton’s Foundation, a Colorado nonprofit corporation. Science DAO itself is not a separate incorporated charity.
What do “funding allocation,” “payment,” “grant,” and “salary” mean on this site?
For AIIM, the neutral operational terms are funding allocation and payment. Some older or explanatory pages may use “grant” or “salary” informally to describe support for recipients; those words do not by themselves imply employment, a grant contract, or a particular legal or tax classification. Where legal classification matters, the applicable payment terms and project documentation control.
Are donations tax-deductible?
Science DAO does not currently represent donations as tax-deductible. Victor Porton’s Foundation previously had U.S. federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, but that status is not currently in effect. Donors who need tax advice should consult an appropriate professional.
How can I review the project’s claims?
Start with Testing & Evidence, Product Status, Transparency, and Independent Review. We explicitly welcome supportive, mixed, and critical external assessments.
Does Science DAO use AI to write or edit content?
Yes, AI tools may be used for drafting, editing, research assistance, software development, and analysis. Responsibility for published claims remains with the project. Important factual and project-status claims should be traceable to source material, code, public records, or clearly labeled hypotheses.
What is the Symbiote AGI Safety Fund?
Symbiote is an experimental AI-safety initiative focused on human–AI oversight and on mechanisms that may help AI systems obtain reliable human input, including in settings where automated agents can manipulate one another. Its safety rationale is a research hypothesis, not an established solution to AI alignment. See Symbiote AGI Safety Fund.
Where can I report an error?
If you find a factual error, unsupported claim, broken citation, security problem, or inconsistency in project status, please contact us or submit it through the relevant review channel. Material corrections should be reflected publicly rather than silently hidden.
👉 Help fund the next public test of AIIM.
Help Test a New Way to Fund Science
AI Internet-Meritocracy (AIIM) is an operational beta designed to allocate available donations to researchers and open-source developers using AI-assisted evaluation of documented contributions. Payment transactions are already recorded on-chain.
The next major evidence milestone is a proposed five-month public adversarial test of the allocation model, with $1,000 distributed to eligible funding recipients. Donations help pay for the development, infrastructure, reviewer and participant recruitment, outreach, and operating work needed to reach and evaluate that milestone.
You do not need to assume AIIM is already proven to support the project. Your donation helps turn the proposal into evidence: what works, what fails, and what should change.
Support the next testing milestone → Read the test proposal →
Independent review
Researchers and technical reviewers: independent criticism is welcome, including negative conclusions. Review AIIM’s assumptions, governance, failure modes, and testing plan →
Research status: AIIM remains experimental. AI-generated evaluations can contain factual errors or biases, and decentralized governance and non-custodial components remain under development. That uncertainty is why public testing, auditability, and external criticism are central to the project.