SFF matching pledges (‡) — what actually wired
In plain English: Survival & Flourishing Fund’s 2025 tables added Matching Pledges marked ‡. That is conditional “we’ll match donations” money — not the same as the standard cash grant next to it. Never add ‡ to cash.
Glossary: /reports/create-the-beast/?p=index · Lightcone face detail: /reports/create-the-beast/?p=lightcone-face
BLUF
- Matching Pledges are new in SFF-2025. Conditional; ‡ ≠ cash.
- Lightcone ‡ WIRED — report $650,000‡ (all-recommendations compact + Habryka’s $2.6M × 0.25x reading). Footnote: the Matching table still shows $500k‡ — unexplained conflict. Habryka thermometer $2,621,555 — Fundraiser over; after FTX-style garnish (~12.5%) remittance ≈ $325k. Deadline was 2026-03-31.
- METR $428k‡ still OPEN until 2026-09-30. Net standard cash after speculation line = $0.
- AI Futures $500k‡ NOT DRAWN — deadline 2026-06-30 passed; no public match campaign found.
- Encode / AIPI have no ‡ on SFF-2025 (cash only).
Selected verdicts
| Row | Cash | ‡ | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lightcone SFF-2025 | $661k net | $650k‡ (report); $500k table conflict | ‡ WIRED; cash WIRED |
| METR SFF-2025 | $0 net std | $428k‡ @ 1x | ‡ OPEN to 2026-09-30 |
| AI Futures SFF-2025 | $1.535M face | $500k‡ | ‡ NOT DRAWN |
| Encode AI Corp | $516k | none | no ‡ |
| AIPI via Hack | $1.635M | none | no ‡ |
WIRED = match campaign looks completed. NOT DRAWN = window closed without public evidence of collection. OPEN = deadline still ahead.