Philanthropic Foundations Unite to Shape AI's Future with $500 Million Initiative

Foundations want to curb AI developers' influence with $500 million aimed at centering human needs

NEW YORK (AP) -- Artificial intelligence is design -- not destiny. That's the message from ten philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technology's moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution. Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technology's rapid integration into daily life. "Every day, people learn more about the ways AI is impacting their lives, and it can often feel like this technology is happening to us rather than with us and for us," MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey said in a statement. "The stakes are too high to defer decisions to a handful of companies and leaders within them." Artificial intelligence has been embraced as a productivity booster in fields such as software engineering or medicine. Voice-cloning technology has been used to help speech-impaired people communicate. Humanitarian groups are testing its ability to translate important documents for refugees. But others question whether its deployment is actually improving their quality of life. Some point out that real harms exist for children turning to AI chatbots for companionship. AI-generated deepfake videos contribute to the online spread of misinformation and disinformation. The electricity-hungry systems' reliance on energy generated by fossil fuels contributes to climate change. And economists fear AI is taking jobs from young or entry-level workers. Humanity AI seeks to take back agency by supporting technology and advocates centering people and the planet. Members must make grants in at least one of five priority areas identified by the coalition: advancing democracy, strengthening education, protecting artists, enhancing work or defending personal security. The alliance of a broad range of philanthropies underscores the widespread concern. Its ranks include humanities supporters such as the Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; tacklers of inequality such as the Ford Foundation and Omidyar Network; equitable technology funders such as Mozilla Foundation and the Siegal Family Foundation; as well as charitable behemoths in the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and David and Lucile Packard Foundation. "We can choose participation over control. The systems shaping our lives must be powered by people, open by design, and fueled by imagination," Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in a statement. "And Humanity AI will support exactly that, by resourcing those taking back human agency in how tech evolves." They're not the first philanthropic coalition to emerge this year with the goal of ensuring everyday people don't get left behind. The Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group were among the funders who announced in July that they'd spend $1 billion over 15 years to help create AI tools for public defenders, parole officers, social workers and others who help Americans in precarious situations. Other efforts seek to improve AI literacy and expand access for entrepreneurs in low-income countries. Humanity AI hopes to expand its coalition. Parters will begin coordinating grants this fall and pool their money next year in a fund managed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Omidyar Network Michele L. Jawando emphasized that humans have the power to ensure artificial intelligence amplifies, and doesn't erode, their needs. But she said we're at that crossroads now. "The future will not be written by algorithms," Jawando said in the release. "It will be written by people as a collective force." ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Exclusive: Big Philanthropy teams up to take on Big AI

But, he says, the ten organizations in Humanity AI working together could have a real impact. "We each have a slightly different angle on it, but we're going to share knowledge and hopefully have the whole be greater than the sum of the parts," he says. The goal, after all, is not to compete with the tech industry so much as it is to expand the conversation. "It's all building a broader community of folks who are engaged in this topic," Omidyar Network president Michele Jawando tells Fast Company. "[T]here's just one or two people who are saying this is how [AI] should be used, and we're saying, 'Hey, wait a minute. I'm going to pull up a few more chairs at the table and get a few different voices and perspectives'." Workers are increasingly worried that the real "value" that AI companies and their investors hope to deliver to big business is the ability to eliminate positions and cut payroll. AI companies and their backers counter by saying that some positions will be eliminated but that many kinds of jobs will be created. Creatives and artists wonder whether AI will enhance their performance or replace them, and many question how their authentic intellectual property can be protected in a world of AI-generated content. But the private sector would actually benefit by making sure that the benefits of AI are broadly distributed across geographies and classes, Jawando points out. "Because if people don't see that, we've seen what happens when people feel completely on the outside and used and abused," she says. "Every major industrial revolution has had [that] moment, and so the private sector should be incentivized to do this, but they're not right now." Some of the investments Humanity AI plans to make focus on giving underrepresented people ways to influence AI's trajectory. The group plans to award funds to the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which works to protect people's right to data privacy as tech companies (and governments) work to bend norms toward having no expectation of privacy at all. The group also plans to fund the work of the Berkeley Labor Center, which develops technology to measure the real effects of AI on the workforce. In addition, it trains union organizers and labor advocates and other organizations that support them, so that workers can act as decision makers on how AI gets applied and not just passive participants (or victims) of the way AI is deployed in the workplace. Some of the group's funding targets are more politically focused, working to raise the voices of people who will be affected by AI but lack thelobbying firepower of big tech. The public advocacy group AI Now, for example, seeks to inject into the policy debate the idea that the corporations developing AI should have to be accountable to the public. The group provides technical expertise to lawmakers (who often rely on AI industry sources), and researches and develops an intellectual framework that legitimizes public intervention in AI development.

Foundations want to curb AI developers' influence with $500M for human needs

NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) -- Artificial intelligence is design -- not destiny. That's the message from ten philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technology's moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution. Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technology's rapid integration into daily life. "Every day, people learn more about the ways AI is impacting their lives, and it can often feel like this technology is happening to us rather than with us and for us," MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey said in a statement. "The stakes are too high to defer decisions to a handful of companies and leaders within them." Artificial intelligence has been embraced as a productivity booster in fields such as software engineering or medicine. Voice-cloning technology has been used to help speech-impaired people communicate. Humanitarian groups are testing its ability to translate important documents for refugees. But others question whether its deployment is actually improving their quality of life. Some point out that real harms exist for children turning to AI chatbots for companionship. AI-generated deepfake videos contribute to the online spread of misinformation and disinformation. The electricity-hungry systems' reliance on energy generated by fossil fuels contributes to climate change. And economists fear AI is taking jobs from young or entry-level workers. Humanity AI seeks to take back agency by supporting technology and advocates centering people and the planet. Members must make grants in at least one of five priority areas identified by the coalition: advancing democracy, strengthening education, protecting artists, enhancing work or defending personal security. The alliance of a broad range of philanthropies underscores the widespread concern. Its ranks include humanities supporters such as the Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; tacklers of inequality such as the Ford Foundation and Omidyar Network; equitable technology funders such as Mozilla Foundation and the Siegal Family Foundation; as well as charitable behemoths in the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and David and Lucile Packard Foundation. "We can choose participation over control. The systems shaping our lives must be powered by people, open by design, and fueled by imagination," Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in a statement. "And Humanity AI will support exactly that, by resourcing those taking back human agency in how tech evolves." They're not the first philanthropic coalition to emerge this year with the goal of ensuring everyday people don't get left behind. The Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group were among the funders who announced in July that they'd spend $1 billion over 15 years to help create AI tools for public defenders, parole officers, social workers and others who help Americans in precarious situations. Other efforts seek to improve AI literacy and expand access for entrepreneurs in low-income countries. Humanity AI hopes to expand its coalition. Parters will begin coordinating grants this fall and pool their money next year in a fund managed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Omidyar Network Michele L. Jawando emphasized that humans have the power to ensure artificial intelligence amplifies, and doesn't erode, their needs. But she said we're at that crossroads now. "The future will not be written by algorithms," Jawando said in the release. "It will be written by people as a collective force." ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Foundations want to curb AI developers' influence with $500 million aimed at centering human needs

NEW YORK (AP) -- Artificial intelligence is design -- not destiny. That's the message from ten philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technology's moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution. Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technology's rapid integration into daily life. "Every day, people learn more about the ways AI is impacting their lives, and it can often feel like this technology is happening to us rather than with us and for us," MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey said in a statement. "The stakes are too high to defer decisions to a handful of companies and leaders within them." Artificial intelligence has been embraced as a productivity booster in fields such as software engineering or medicine. Voice-cloning technology has been used to help speech-impaired people communicate. Humanitarian groups are testing its ability to translate important documents for refugees. But others question whether its deployment is actually improving their quality of life. Some point out that real harms exist for children turning to AI chatbots for companionship. AI-generated deepfake videos contribute to the online spread of misinformation and disinformation. The electricity-hungry systems' reliance on energy generated by fossil fuels contributes to climate change. And economists fear AI is taking jobs from young or entry-level workers. Humanity AI seeks to take back agency by supporting technology and advocates centering people and the planet. Members must make grants in at least one of five priority areas identified by the coalition: advancing democracy, strengthening education, protecting artists, enhancing work or defending personal security. The alliance of a broad range of philanthropies underscores the widespread concern. Its ranks include humanities supporters such as the Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; tacklers of inequality such as the Ford Foundation and Omidyar Network; equitable technology funders such as Mozilla Foundation and the Siegal Family Foundation; as well as charitable behemoths in the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and David and Lucile Packard Foundation. "We can choose participation over control. The systems shaping our lives must be powered by people, open by design, and fueled by imagination," Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in a statement. "And Humanity AI will support exactly that, by resourcing those taking back human agency in how tech evolves." They're not the first philanthropic coalition to emerge this year with the goal of ensuring everyday people don't get left behind. The Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group were among the funders who announced in July that they'd spend $1 billion over 15 years to help create AI tools for public defenders, parole officers, social workers and others who help Americans in precarious situations. Other efforts seek to improve AI literacy and expand access for entrepreneurs in low-income countries. Humanity AI hopes to expand its coalition. Parters will begin coordinating grants this fall and pool their money next year in a fund managed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Omidyar Network Michele L. Jawando emphasized that humans have the power to ensure artificial intelligence amplifies, and doesn't erode, their needs. But she said we're at that crossroads now. "The future will not be written by algorithms," Jawando said in the release. "It will be written by people as a collective force." ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Foundations Want to Curb AI Developers' Influence With $500 Million Aimed at Centering Human Needs

NEW YORK (AP) -- Artificial intelligence is design -- not destiny. That's the message from ten philanthropic foundations aiming to loosen the grip that the technology's moneyed developers, fueled by an investing frenzy, hold over its evolution. Launched Tuesday under the name Humanity AI, the coalition is committing $500 million across the next five years to place human interests at the forefront of the technology's rapid integration into daily life. "Every day, people learn more about the ways AI is impacting their lives, and it can often feel like this technology is happening to us rather than with us and for us," MacArthur Foundation President John Palfrey said in a statement. "The stakes are too high to defer decisions to a handful of companies and leaders within them." Artificial intelligence has been embraced as a productivity booster in fields such as software engineering or medicine. Voice-cloning technology has been used to help speech-impaired people communicate. Humanitarian groups are testing its ability to translate important documents for refugees. But others question whether its deployment is actually improving their quality of life. Some point out that real harms exist for children turning to AI chatbots for companionship. AI-generated deepfake videos contribute to the online spread of misinformation and disinformation. The electricity-hungry systems' reliance on energy generated by fossil fuels contributes to climate change. And economists fear AI is taking jobs from young or entry-level workers. Humanity AI seeks to take back agency by supporting technology and advocates centering people and the planet. Members must make grants in at least one of five priority areas identified by the coalition: advancing democracy, strengthening education, protecting artists, enhancing work or defending personal security. The alliance of a broad range of philanthropies underscores the widespread concern. Its ranks include humanities supporters such as the Mellon Foundation and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; tacklers of inequality such as the Ford Foundation and Omidyar Network; equitable technology funders such as Mozilla Foundation and the Siegal Family Foundation; as well as charitable behemoths in the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and David and Lucile Packard Foundation. "We can choose participation over control. The systems shaping our lives must be powered by people, open by design, and fueled by imagination," Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Nabiha Syed said in a statement. "And Humanity AI will support exactly that, by resourcing those taking back human agency in how tech evolves." They're not the first philanthropic coalition to emerge this year with the goal of ensuring everyday people don't get left behind. The Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group were among the funders who announced in July that they'd spend $1 billion over 15 years to help create AI tools for public defenders, parole officers, social workers and others who help Americans in precarious situations. Other efforts seek to improve AI literacy and expand access for entrepreneurs in low-income countries. Humanity AI hopes to expand its coalition. Parters will begin coordinating grants this fall and pool their money next year in a fund managed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Omidyar Network Michele L. Jawando emphasized that humans have the power to ensure artificial intelligence amplifies, and doesn't erode, their needs. But she said we're at that crossroads now. "The future will not be written by algorithms," Jawando said in the release. "It will be written by people as a collective force." ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

10 Major Foundations Pledge $500M to Keep A.I. Focused on Humanity

Humanity AI unites leading philanthropies to steer A.I.'s impact toward equity, creativity and democracy rather than corporate gain. Some of the nation's largest philanthropic players are banding together with one goal in mind: ensuring Silicon Valley isn't the only force shaping how A.I. impacts society as the technology becomes increasingly embedded in areas like labor, education and art. The new initiative, called Humanity AI, will see ten foundations commit at least $500 million over the next five years to that mission. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters Humanity AI will be co-chaired by the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic venture established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar that has committed nearly $2 billion over the past 21 years, and the 55-year-old MacArthur Foundation, which has awarded more than $8.27 billion to some 10,000 recipients since its establishment. "The message I want to resonate far and wide is this: A.I. is not destiny, it is design," said Michele Jawando, president of the Omidyar Network, in a statement. "The decisions we make now about who builds A.I., who benefits from it, and whose values shape it will determine whether it amplifies human needs or erodes them." Foundations joining the coalition must commit to making grants in at least one of Humanity AI's five priority areas: equipping workers for an A.I.-driven economy; protecting artists from theft; addressing security risks in sectors such as climate and energy; promoting democracy; and supporting thoughtful integration of A.I. in education. A pooled fund of grants will be managed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which expects to begin distributing funds early next year. The initiative's wide-ranging goals are reflected in its diverse roster of members. The Mellon Foundation, for instance, is known for championing the arts and humanities; the Kapor Foundation focuses on making the tech ecosystem more equitable; and the Lumina Foundation works to boost U.S. economic prosperity through education. Other founding members include the Doris Duke Foundation, Ford Foundation, Siegel Family Endowment and David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Big Philanthropy takes on A.I. This isn't the first time major U.S. foundations have teamed up to mitigate A.I.'s risks. In 2023, several of Humanity AI's current members -- including the Omidyar Network, MacArthur Foundation and Ford Foundation -- launched a $200 million initiative aimed at funding A.I. projects that promote the public interest and responsible use. More recently, in July, a separate philanthropic coalition led by billionaires Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Charles Koch announced NextLadder Ventures, a $1 billion initiative to use emerging technologies to expand economic opportunity. That effort will prioritize providing A.I.-based tools to frontline workers and people facing job or housing instability. Humanity AI, meanwhile, hopes to grow its coalition in the coming months. "The stakes are too high to defer decisions to a handful of companies and leaders within them," said John Palfrey, president of the MacArthur Foundation, in a statement. "Humanity AI seeks to shift that dynamic by resourcing technologists, researchers and advocates who are united by a shared vision of ensuring A.I. is a force for good, putting people and the planet first."