Find your place in AI policy.
A fully funded two-week program for people in AI safety who want to see the whole breadth of policy careers, test which roles fit them, and take a concrete next step.
Applications for the September cohort are open. Deadline: Sunday, August 16, 2026, 11:59 PM PDT.
The US government will react to transformative AI, and shaping that response is one of the highest-leverage ways to make AI safer. How well it goes depends on who is in the room. The Longitude DC Intensive gives you two weeks in Washington, DC to see the breadth of roles shaping that response, and to take your first step into one.
In two weeks you get the foundations of US AI policy, hands-on experiences of different policy roles, and a DC network to help with your next steps.
The first days build and refresh your foundations: how the US government works, where AI policy stands right now, and how to talk about AI safety in DC.
Next, you learn about the whole breadth of policy careers and test your fit through hands-on work simulations provided by organizations hiring for it. This deepens your understanding of both AI policy and the job landscape itself.
Along the way, you meet people from a variety of policy organizations in talks, lunch discussions and evening socials. You also have your cohort and our team to support you on your next steps.
After the Intensive, we support you to make your move into policy as smooth and quick as possible by connecting you to organizations, fellowships and openings – provided AI policy is where you want to go next.
Capitol Hill
Think tank
Advocacy org
Frontier AI lab
First speakers will be announced soon.
We are looking for impact-driven people in AI safety, early to mid-career, open to policy as their next step and ready to go for it if the two weeks show them where they fit.
You have engaged with AI safety and can reason about why frontier AI risks matter.
You do not need policy experience, but if you find a role here that you want, you would go for it.
You can explain how AI systems are built and trained to a non-technical audience.
You want to reduce catastrophic risk from AI and think that through policy work you could contribute to this.
These are no hard critera and we would much rather get your application than have you rule yourself out. If in doubt, apply.
Applications for the September cohort close on Sunday, August 16, 2026, 11:59 PM PDT.
Participation is free. We cover the program itself, housing in DC, meals on program days, and travel from within the US. If you join from abroad, we ask you to contribute to your flight, with the details agreed before you accept your spot.
Enough to explain how AI systems are built and trained to a non-technical audience, roughly what you would pick up in a technical AI safety bootcamp like ML4Good. Research experience is a plus but certainly not a requirement.
No. The first days cover the foundations, and the rest of the program is exactly about learning what these roles look like in practice.
It depends on how concrete your picture is. If you are already in a policy role or a fellowship like Horizon or TechCongress, this program will not add much for you. But if you are fairly sure you want policy and just do not know what the roles actually look like or how to get into them, the two weeks can give you exactly that overview and network.
That is a great outcome too. You go back to technical or generalist work with a much better model of how DC thinks, how to communicate your work there, and people to call when policy questions reach you.
The last day is dedicated to next steps: career mapping, 1:1s, application planning, and warm intros. If you decide to pursue policy, we will support you in taking the next concrete step.
A short written application and one interview. Applications for the September cohort are open until Sunday, August 16, 2026, 11:59 PM PDT, and you can apply here.
If you know someone who'd be a great fit for the Longitude DC Intensive, send us a referral through this short form. We follow up on every referral.
Yes, as long as you are currently based in the US. Many DC policy roles at think tanks and nonprofits do not require citizenship, while most government positions do, and we will map what is open to you during the program. US citizens who are temporarily living abroad can also apply. What we cannot accept in this cohort are people who are neither US citizens nor based in the US.
In 1714, the British Parliament passed the Longitude Act. Ships and crews were being lost because nobody could measure longitude at sea, a problem the government knew mattered but could not solve from within. The answer came from technical talent: John Harrison, a self-taught clockmaker, built a clock precise enough to keep London time on a rolling ship. AI policy is at a similar moment, and the hardest problems will not be solved without people who understand the technology in the room. The fine vertical lines across this site are lines of longitude. The red ones are the red lines AI development should not cross.