What's up with FUTO?

Drew DeVault investigates FUTO, an organization claiming to fund open source software. He finds that their 'grant program' is misleading: rather than formal grants, FUTO made small, quiet donations (e.g., $1,000 to musl libc via GitHub Sponsors) and then displayed the logos of well-known projects like ffmpeg, VLC, NeoVim, and Wireshark on their homepage without authorization, implying endorsements that were never given. Multiple maintainers confirmed they had no knowledge of any grant. Beyond the deceptive branding, DeVault criticizes FUTO for platforming Curtis Yarvin, a self-proclaimed fascist, through interviews and a staged debate with Louis Rossmann. He argues FUTO uses open-washing tactics and fascist-adjacent associations to legitimize itself, and calls on affected projects to demand removal of their logos. An update notes FUTO revised their website to clarify donations vs. grants but declined to address the Yarvin platforming issue.