OpenAI To Award Ten $100,000 Grants For AI Governance Ideas

AI company OpenAI’s nonprofit arm has launched a program to award ten USD 100,000 grants to fund experiments in setting up a “democratic process” for deciding what rules AI systems should follow, within the bounds defined by the law.

OpenAI is inviting both individuals and organisations to apply for this opportunity, regardless of their background in social science or AI. To apply for a grant, the company has invited people to submit the required application material by 9 PM PST 24 June 2023.

Grant recipients are required to implement a proof-of-concept / prototype, engaging at least 500 participants and will be required to publish a public report on their findings by 20 October 2023.

But the those who apply for the grants need to be mindful of “democratic processes”, which OpenAI defines as a process in which a broadly representative group of people exchange opinions, engage in deliberative discussions and ultimately decide on an outcome via a transparent decision making process.

Additionally, as part of the grant program, any code or other intellectual property developed for the project will be required to be made publicly available pursuant to an open-source license.