Existing measures ask what governments spend. The Public Goods Contribution Index asks a different question: how much are actors contributing to goods that benefit everyone and are chronically underprovided — AI safety governance, climate action, information integrity, pandemic preparedness, and peace?
The Index is designed to be cited, debated, and improved rather than to be perfect in its first edition. By making contribution visible and comparable across governments, multilaterals, foundations, and technology companies, it creates an incentive to contribute and a reference point for those who already do.
It is the framework most likely to draw the attention of technology companies — and the controversy that is its own form of visibility.