Open Society and Other Funders Launch New Initiative to Ensure AI Advances the Public Interest

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the Open Society Foundations, along with nine other leading philanthropies, launched a new initiative to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) advances the public interest by promoting responsible use and innovation while mitigating harms.  

The philanthropies that are part of this initiative include: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Democracy Fund; the Ford Foundation; Heising-Simons Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Kapor Foundation; Mozilla Foundation; Omidyar Network; Open Society Foundations; and the Wallace Global Fund. 

Building on years of work in this space, the foundations—which collectively have $200 million invested in this field—will fund projects to ensure that AI protects democracy and the rights and freedoms of all people; that AI innovation is in the public interest; that AI empowers workers across industries; that there is greater transparency and accountability in the development of new AI; and that we build strong international AI norms and rules. 

“AI tools could benefit people all over the world—but who they serve will depend on how they are developed, used, and overseen. The decisions we make now will set the course for decades to come. If we want to achieve our potential as a community and a country, we must meet this moment,” said Laleh Ispahani, the executive director of Open Society–U.S. 

“As we know from social media, the failure to regulate technological change can lead to harms that range from children’s safety to the erosion of democracy. With AI, the scale and intensity of potential harm is even greater—from racially based ‘risk scoring’ tools that needlessly keep people in prison to deepfake videos that further erode trust in democracy and future harms like economic upheaval and job loss,” Ispahani added. “But if we act now, we can build accountability, promote opportunity, and deliver greater prosperity for all,” she said.  

“We thank the Vice President and the White House for their leadership on this issue, and for ensuring that opportunity, democracy, and justice are at the center of their work for America’s future.” 

Read more about this initiative.

The above philanthropies welcome the leadership of Vice President Harris in identifying five critical areas of need to help ensure the benefits of AI are broadly shared and harms are mitigated:  

1. Ensure that AI protects democracy and the rights and freedoms of all people
2. Leverage AI to innovate in the public interest and deliver breakthroughs to improve quality of life for people around the world
3. Empower workers to thrive amid AI-driven changes across sectors and industries
4. Improve transparency, interpretability, and accountability for AI models, companies, and deployers
5. Support the development of international AI rules and norms 

These philanthropic leaders commit to aligning their investments and scaling civil society’s efforts to ensure that AI advances the public interest across these key areas. The following actions illustrate some of the ongoing work supported by these philanthropies, which builds on years of investment. 

Actions to ensure that AI protects democracy and the rights and freedoms of all people:

Philanthropies acting in this pillar are supporting initiatives to protect U.S. democracy from the potentially destabilizing effects of AI. These efforts include defending free and fair elections while combating disinformation and the undermining of public trust. The philanthropies are also funding projects to develop inclusive, rights-respecting AI governance frameworks and to guard against harmful impacts to historically marginalized communities.  

Actions to leverage AI to innovate in the public interest and deliver breakthroughs to improve quality of life for people around the world:

The philanthropies are seeking to ensure that current and future AI innovators are leveraging AI to improve quality of life for all people and serve the public interest. Projects include efforts to build policymakers’ understanding and use of AI and relevant technology to shape effective and equitable policy, and to redefine computer science education, research, and technology to center the needs, problems, and aspirations of all. They also include investments in inclusive technology development, educational opportunities in ethical design, and other programs that encourage responsible technology development and deployment.  

Actions to empower workers to thrive amid AI-driven changes across sectors and industries:

The philanthropies are aligning investments to maximize the benefits and mitigate the harms of AI for all people by empowering workers to shape how AI systems impact their work, current and emerging industries, and the world’s economies. Funding supports efforts to ensure AI systems respect labor rights and foster quality jobs by ensuring workers guide AI and its impact on working conditions. The philanthropies will also work to pioneer new economic thinking on competition, trade, and industrial policies to strengthen worker autonomy and power and integrate labor priorities into broader technology policy agendas while taking other actions to empower workers.  

Actions to improve interpretability, transparency, and accountability for AI models, companies, and deployers:

Under this initiative, philanthropies are supporting efforts to hold AI companies accountable for racial, social, and economic bias, as well as funding projects to develop and advocate for strategies to increase transparency and accountability for AI companies and deployers. Philanthropies are supporting endeavors that focus on a broad range of AI-driven harms and advance research to address power disparities and monopoly in the tech industry, among other efforts.  

Actions to support the development of international AI rules and norms:

The philanthropies aligned in this initiative are working with global partners to advance the development and implementation of responsible international AI governance and norms. Funded projects include development of policy frameworks, research that illuminates impacts of discrimination and bias, and advocacy efforts to ensure civil society has a seat at the table as international rules are developed.