Atom AI Policy

Atom uses AI to help researchers and research offices find funding, check eligibility, and prepare proposals. This page explains how we use AI, what happens to your data, and how people stay in control of the results.

How we use AI

  • Finding funding: matching researchers to grants, summarizing opportunities, and explaining why a grant fits.
  • Checking eligibility: reading funder rules and comparing them with a researcher's profile.
  • Preparing proposals: drafting guides, outlines, and budget justifications, and reviewing drafts against the solicitation.
  • Researcher profiles: drafting profile summaries from public information and what researchers share with us.
  • Atom AI chat: answering questions about grants, proposals, and profiles.

Your data

  • We never use customer data to train AI models.
  • Each request includes only the information that task needs. We never send passwords, credentials, or API keys to an AI provider.
  • Requests to AI providers are sent from our servers, never from your browser, and AI models never get direct access to our databases.
  • We keep a record of AI requests so we can monitor quality and look into any issue that comes up.

How AI providers handle your data

  • We use AI models from established providers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Perplexity.
  • We use their paid business APIs, never consumer apps or free tiers. Under these business terms, providers do not use the data we send to train their models.
  • Some providers keep requests for a short period (typically up to 30 days) only to detect abuse, then delete them. Retention periods vary by provider.
  • Customer data only goes to providers whose terms prohibit training on it.

People stay in control

  • AI results are suggestions and drafts for people to review, not decisions.
  • Atom AI only acts within your own account permissions, and only makes the changes you ask it to.
  • AI features are marked as Atom AI in the product, so you know where AI is used.

Fairness

We don't use characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, or veteran status to rank or match grants. Some funders limit who can apply (for example, programs for early-career or underrepresented researchers); we check those rules only against information researchers have shared with us.

How we manage AI risk

We manage AI risk using the NIST AI Risk Management Framework. Every AI feature is reviewed for privacy, accuracy, bias, and security, and changes are tested before they ship. If an AI feature or provider ever behaves in a way it shouldn't, we can switch it off immediately. Customers can request our full AI Risk Management Policy.

Questions or concerns

If you see AI output that looks wrong, biased, or concerning, or you have questions about how we use AI, email support@atomgrants.com.

Last updated: October 9, 2026.