Pooled philanthropic fund awards $8 million to inaugural grantee organizations, with an additional $10 million committed to a forthcoming open call
Tuesday, May 12, 2026–Humanity AI, a collaborative philanthropic initiative dedicated to ensuring artificial intelligence (AI) serves the public good, today announced more than $18 million in new pooled grants. This includes $8 million in grants to organizations whose work spans the most urgent frontiers of AI’s impact on society, including safeguarding democratic institutions, protecting workers’ rights, strengthening journalism, and advancing education. Humanity AI will also support AI Civics, a new effort to advance public education, literacy, and community decision-making on AI and a forthcoming open call to identify further impactful projects.
Even as the adoption of and investment in AI continues to accelerate, a growing number of Americans are expressing concern about the technology and its role in our society, and who is guiding its governance. A June 2025 survey by Pew Research found that half of U.S. adults say the increased use of AI in daily life makes them feel more concerned than excited. Additional research by Pew found that more than half of U.S. adults (55%) say they want more control over how it is used in their lives.
This first group of Humanity AI grantees is building the talent, evidence, public voice, and public goods needed to ensure Americans have the ability to shape AI and ensure the technology is used to advance opportunity — rather than concentrating it in the hands of a few.
“As AI transforms how we learn, work, and live, the first group of Humanity AI grantees helps expand opportunity and keep people at the center of technological advancements,” said Lumina Foundation President and CEO Jamie Merisotis.
Humanity AI grantees represent an interconnected and diverse portfolio of organizations, all working to ensure AI is built and governed in ways that put people first. Each grant recipient has already established the deep ability to shape the conversation on AI and is poised to have even greater impact. Among the grant recipients, organizations awarded $500,000 include:
- AI Now Institute—to accelerate research and policy strategies to address accountability for AI’s impacts on labor, climate, and government
- Center for Democracy and Technology—to advance robust AI governance solutions that respect our civil rights and liberties through advocacy and regulatory engagement
- Council on Foreign Relations LEAD AI—to generate policy-relevant ideas and analysis and promote informed public discussion of consequential AI issues facing the U.S. and the world
- Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute—to connect community-driven researchers to build grassroots knowledge and power to shape the future of AI
- Partnership on AI—to provide a multi-sector forum for civil society, academia, industry, and philanthropy to undertake collaborative research and co-create solutions so that AI advances positive outcomes for people and society
- TechEquity—to hold the technology industry accountable for the economic harms it creates and ensure AI’s growth benefits everyone
- Kinfolk Tech—to reimagine how people remember through art, technology, and collective power
- Pulitzer Center—to connect and equip journalists around the world to report on AI with skill, nuance, and impact
- Student Defense—for SHAPE AI (Safeguarding Higher Ed through AI Practices and Ethics), which brings together leaders and practitioners to develop practical guidance for institutions navigating AI adoption, with a focus on under-resourced schools
- In addition to the organizational grants, Humanity AI is awarding $3 million to support the creation of AI Civics, a new collaborative program to address the fundamental question: How can communities have a voice in directing the creation, deployment, and use of AI? Data & Society will lead AI Civics with anchor partner, Digital Public Library of America. The two organizations will partner on the first phase of this effort, which will bring communities together in libraries across the country.
The grantees’ work is mutually reinforcing: Policy research strengthens accountability; giving voice to communities shapes the standards for how AI is developed and deployed; investigative journalism holds powerful actors to account; practical guidance helps institutions adopt AI responsibly; and grassroots knowledge-sharing ensures the people whom AI impacts the most have agency to shape its trajectory.
Together, these investments support the creation and promotion of spaces for the public to imagine what AI can and should be, open new areas of exploration through signature projects, and fund the research and storytelling that make the case for a society where AI works for people.
For more information about Humanity AI and the inaugural grantees, visit humanityai.ai.
Forthcoming Open Call
This summer, Humanity AI will launch a $10 million open call to identify and support more organizations working at the frontiers of AI and the public interest. Because the communities closest to AI’s impact often hold the clearest vision for what a more equitable future requires, Humanity AI is committed to ensuring that the bold leaders and organizations best positioned to meet this moment have the support they need. In the coming months, Humanity AI will share details about the open call, including areas of focus, application timeline, and criteria.
Keep up with the latest by joining the Humanity AI mailing list.
About Humanity AI
The Humanity AI founding partners are the Doris Duke Foundation, Ford Foundation, Lumina Foundation, Kapor Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, Omidyar Network, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Siegel Family Endowment.