Which organizations received OpenAI's grants?

The 14 recipients include US-based organizations across the political spectrum—the American Enterprise Institute, the Progressive Policy Institute, the Tax Foundation, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative—as well as organizations in Europe, Brazil, Singapore, and South Korea.

How much funding is each project receiving?

Each of the 14 projects will receive $1 million in funding in addition to up to $1 million in credits to use OpenAI's models.

What are the projects focused on?

The projects are designed to "promote economic opportunity and societal resilience" in the age of AI. Specific examples include a joint American Enterprise Institute and Urban Institute study of AI's disruption of the American workforce, and a Progressive Policy Institute project to develop a new "person-based benefits system" for the AI economy.

AI Regulation & PolicyAI Business & IndustrySemafor TechAug 17, 2026Aug 17, 2026, 19:00 JST

OpenAI awards $1M to 14 think tanks studying AI's economic impact

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3 Key Points

What happened
OpenAI announced winners of its grant program to study artificial intelligence's economic and societal effects. The 14 selected projects, spread across the US, Europe, Brazil, Singapore, and South Korea, will each receive $1 million in funding plus up to $1 million in credits to use OpenAI's models. Recipients include the American Enterprise Institute, Progressive Policy Institute, Tax Foundation, and Nuclear Threat Initiative.
Why it matters
OpenAI is funding independent research organizations across the political spectrum to develop policy solutions for AI's workforce disruption and unequal benefits distribution. Chris Lehane, OpenAI's chief global affairs officer, framed this as necessary for democracies to shape how AI is deployed, positioning think tanks as "laboratories of democracy" to ensure AI's gains reach broadly rather than concentrate among a few.
What to watch
The specific projects underscore OpenAI's stated priority areas—the American Enterprise Institute and Urban Institute joint effort will examine AI's impact on the American workforce, while the Progressive Policy Institute will design a new "person-based benefits system" for the AI economy.

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Context & Analysis

OpenAI's grant program represents a deliberate effort to outsource policy research on AI's societal impact to independent institutions rather than develop those ideas entirely in-house. By selecting recipients from across the political spectrum and geographic regions, OpenAI is signaling that solutions to AI's disruptions—workforce displacement, unequal wealth concentration, regulatory uncertainty—require broad buy-in across ideological and national boundaries. The funding structure, combining cash grants with model credits, also embeds OpenAI's tools into the research infrastructure these organizations will use, potentially shaping how they study the technology.

Chris Lehane's framing—that "democracies need to decide how AI is deployed"—implicitly acknowledges that OpenAI itself cannot or should not unilaterally shape that outcome. By funding think tanks as "laboratories of democracy," OpenAI is positioning itself as a funder of civic deliberation rather than a sole architect of AI policy. Whether this sufficiently distances OpenAI's commercial interests from the research outcomes remains an open question for observers of corporate influence on policy research.

FAQ

Which organizations received OpenAI's grants?: The 14 recipients include US-based organizations across the political spectrum—the American Enterprise Institute, the Progressive Policy Institute, the Tax Foundation, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative—as well as organizations in Europe, Brazil, Singapore, and South Korea.
How much funding is each project receiving?: Each of the 14 projects will receive $1 million in funding in addition to up to $1 million in credits to use OpenAI's models.
What are the projects focused on?: The projects are designed to "promote economic opportunity and societal resilience" in the age of AI. Specific examples include a joint American Enterprise Institute and Urban Institute study of AI's disruption of the American workforce, and a Progressive Policy Institute project to develop a new "person-based benefits system" for the AI economy.

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