For too long, the story of artificial intelligence has been told by those building and profiting from it. The narrative goes something like this: AI is inevitable, transformative, and too complex for ordinary people to understand or shape. The best we can do is trust the experts (usually tech executives and their investors) to guide us toward a future they promise will be beneficial, even if the path there causes disruption, displacement, and harm along the way.
Humanity AI exists to challenge that story and shift who gets to write it.
Today, we’re announcing a slate of grants to organizations working to put public interest at the center of AI’s development and deployment. This includes $8 million to 12 inaugural grantee organizations and $10 million committed to a forthcoming open call. These investments represent a fundamental belief: the communities most affected by AI should have the greatest say in shaping its future.
Read the full press release here.
From Inevitability to Choice
Half of U.S. adults say the increased use of AI makes them feel more concerned than excited, and 55% want more control over how it’s used in their lives. These numbers tell us something important: people aren’t rejecting AI wholesale. They’re rejecting the current power dynamics that position them as passive recipients of technology rather than active agents shaping it.
“AI’s future isn’t a technical problem to be solved by engineers, it’s a democratic challenge that requires the voices and agency of the people whose lives it affects,” said Katy Knight, President and Executive Director of Siegel Endowment. “These grants support organizations that are fundamentally rewriting who gets to make decisions about AI and on what terms. That’s not just important, it’s urgent.”
The first cohort of Humanity AI grantees is building the infrastructure needed to make that shift real. They’re doing the unglamorous work of policy research, community organizing, investigative journalism, and institutional guidance that changes who gets to make decisions about AI and on what terms.
Building Power, Not Just Commentary
These aren’t grants for thought pieces about what AI should be. They’re investments in organizations that are actively shifting the balance of power: holding tech companies accountable, equipping communities with the knowledge and tools to advocate for their interests, and creating the evidence base that makes public interest arguments impossible to ignore.
The AI Now Institute, Center for Democracy and Technology, and TechEquity are advancing policy frameworks and advocacy strategies that translate community needs into regulatory requirements. The Distributed AI Research Institute and Center on Resilience & Digital Justice are building grassroots knowledge and connecting researchers to the communities they serve, ensuring expertise flows in both directions. The Pulitzer Center and Partnership on AI are strengthening the journalists and cross-sector collaborations that surface what’s actually happening with AI deployment, not just what companies claim is happening.
Organizations like Student Defense and Council on Foreign Relations are developing practical guidance for institutions navigating AI adoption, ensuring that under-resourced schools and policymakers have the tools to make informed decisions that prioritize equity. And Kinfolk Tech is reimagining how technology can center collective memory and power rather than extract from it.
Together, these grantees are demonstrating that AI isn’t something that happens to us—it’s something we design, deploy, and govern together.
An Open Call for Alternative Trajectories
This summer, Humanity AI will launch a $10 million open call to identify and support additional organizations working at the frontiers of AI and public interest. We’re looking for the bold leaders and organizations best positioned to shift narratives, build alternatives, and expand who has power over AI’s trajectory.
Because the communities closest to AI’s impact often hold the clearest vision for what a more equitable future requires, this open call will prioritize organizations led by and accountable to those communities. Details about focus areas, application timelines, and criteria will be shared in the coming months.
The question isn’t whether AI will transform society; it already is. The question is who gets to shape that transformation. These grants are our answer: the public does.
For more information about Humanity AI and the inaugural grantees, visit humanityai.ai.
The Humanity AI founding partners are theDoris 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.
