People-First AI Fund Announces First Grant Recipients

The OpenAI Foundation has announced the first grant recipients of the People-First AI Fund, an initiative aimed at strengthening communities and expanding opportunities to benefit from AI. Through this first round of grants, a total of $40.5 million in unrestricted funding will be distributed to 208 nonprofit organizations across the United States.

The grants are expected to be distributed by the end of this year, and will be followed by a second, board-directed round of $9.5 million in funding. This second round will target organizations doing innovative AI work in high-impact public interest areas such as health.

The selection process involved the following steps:

• Review by an independent Nonprofit Commission and nationwide community input
• An open call that drew applications from around 3,000 organizations, followed by an independent human review process
• The final slate of candidates being presented to the OpenAI Foundation's board of directors for decision

The recipient organizations operate in diverse communities across the United States, spanning both rural and urban areas, and will use AI to contribute to their communities in fields such as workforce development, media literacy, STEM education, and youth support.