Scott's monthly roundup of interesting links covering AI policy developments, technology news, cultural observations, and scientific research from December 2025. Longer summary

This is Scott Alexander's monthly collection of links and commentary covering diverse topics. Major themes include AI policy battles (chip sales to China, regulation debates, political campaigns), startup news (Substrate fraud allegations, Tornyol mosquito drones), and scientific updates (COVID origins, Hitler's DNA, lactose intolerance). The post also covers cultural topics like the first millennial saint, Dimes Square commentary, and political polling about ideal Democratic candidates. Scott provides his characteristic mix of straightforward reporting, skeptical analysis, and occasional humor throughout the 53 linked items. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander announces the 2025 ACX Grants program offering $1M in microgrants for charitable and scientific projects, with a new equity-sharing component for projects that become startups. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the 2025 ACX Grants program, a microgrants initiative funding charitable and scientific projects from ACX readers. He plans to contribute $200K with an expected additional $800K from other donors, for grants ranging from $5K to $50K. This year introduces a new feature where some grants will be replaced with SAFEs or convertible grants, giving ACX Grants equity claims if projects become successful startups. The post details application processes, timelines, types of projects they're interested in, and various ways others can help as funders, VCs, evaluators, or friendly professionals. Shorter summary

Scott reviews updates from two cohorts of ACX Grants recipients (from 2021 and 2024), analyzing their progress and sharing lessons learned about what makes grants successful. Longer summary

Scott Alexander reviews progress updates from two cohorts of ACX Grants recipients - the first cohort from 2021 (after 3 years) and the second from 2024 (after 1 year). The post methodically goes through each grant's status, with many showing significant progress in areas like AI safety advocacy, animal welfare, scientific research, and political lobbying. Scott then analyzes patterns in what made grants successful, finding that lobbying organizations and animal welfare projects were particularly effective, while scientific grants were harder to evaluate. He concludes that while not all projects succeeded, the $3 million program generated good value through both direct impact and startup creation, and he plans to continue it with some adjustments. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander announces Grants ++, asking unfunded ACX Grant applicants to resubmit concise proposals for potential reader funding. Longer summary

Scott Alexander announces the next phase of ACX Grants called Grants ++, where unfunded proposals will be published for readers to potentially offer funding. Due to challenges with unclear instructions and the large volume of proposals, Scott is asking applicants to resubmit their proposals in a concise one-paragraph format (max 1500 characters). He provides examples of the desired format and sets guidelines for inclusion, such as allowing startups only if they have a charitable aspect. Applicants are instructed to submit their paragraphs through a provided link by January 28, 2022, with the understanding that submissions are final and cannot be changed once sent. Shorter summary