OpenAI Foundation commits $250 million to help workers, economies navigate AI disruption

The non-profit that controls OpenAI will commit an initial $250 million for grants, partnerships and direct work aimed at helping workers and economies navigate the disruption caused by AI technology, it said on Wednesday. The funds, the first such commitment from the OpenAI Foundation, will back research into AI's impact on ‌the labor ⁠market, support workers ⁠and communities facing near-term displacement and explore new ways to distribute economic gains from AI more broadly. "The current pace of change means the window to get this right is shorter than we're used to, and the cost of getting it wrong is profound," the non-profit said in a statement. The rising use of AI tools capable ⁠of automating ‌tasks such as coding have sparked fears of widespread job losses, with several companies including Block and Standard Chartered explicitly ⁠citing AI efficiencies for recent layoffs. The OpenAI Foundation received a 26% stake in the startup's for-profit entity last year as part of a restructuring that valued its holding at $130 billion at the time, making it one of the world's biggest charities. In March, OpenAI committed to investing at least $1 billion through the non-profit over the next year in AI-tied projects, including ‌life sciences and community programs. The foundation said on Wednesday its first initiatives would be announced later this year and that it was building a ⁠team that would not just distribute grants like a typical non-profit, but also run some programs directly, instead of acting solely as an intermediary.

Grants will ​go to non-profits as well as a wide range of other organizations, it said.

Projects that the foundation is interested in include those that involve AI-powered simulations to model how economies might evolve as the technology improves.