Updated October 14, 2026
AI Safety Research Grants
Open grants and fellowships for AI safety, alignment, interpretability, and AI governance research, from AI labs, foundations, and federal agencies. Updated daily.
AI safety has gone from a niche research area to one of the fastest-growing corners of research funding. The labs building frontier models now fund outside safety research directly, through fellowships, research awards, and industry-backed pools like the Frontier Model Forum's AI Safety Fund. Philanthropies including Coefficient Giving, the Survival and Flourishing Fund, and the Future of Life Institute run dedicated programs, and federal agencies are funding the mathematical and technical foundations that trustworthy AI depends on.
Featured grants
Updated automatically from Atom's grant database. Summaries are AI-generated.Request for Proposals: AI Governance
Request for Proposals: AI Governance supports researchers and organizations with research, training, and governance project funding to reduce catastrophic risks from advanced AI.
Anthropic Fellows Program for AI Safety Research
Anthropic Fellows Program for AI Safety Research supports engineers and researchers with mentorship and resources for empirical AI safety and security work aimed at public research outputs.
AI Safety Fund
The AI Safety Fund supports global research projects advancing responsible and safe development of advanced AI systems, focusing on urgent challenges like evaluation, biosecurity, cybersecurity, and governance.
The field is broader than its name suggests. Funders support technical work on alignment, interpretability, robustness, and model evaluations, but also governance, policy, security, and research on how advanced AI affects work, institutions, and society. That breadth means researchers in computer science, statistics, economics, law, philosophy, and the policy sciences can all find programs that fit, and many safety funders explicitly welcome applicants who are new to the area.
This collection tracks open grants and fellowships for AI safety and governance research across AI labs, foundations, and government funders. It refreshes as new calls open and deadlines pass. Many safety programs accept applications on a rolling basis or open on short notice, so a live list catches opportunities that an annual calendar misses.
AI for Privacy, Safety, and Security Academic Research Awards
Google's AI for Privacy, Safety, and Security Academic Research Awards fund interdisciplinary research using AI to tackle digital privacy, safety, and security challenges.
Technology in the Public Interest
Supports research and networks to improve oversight, evaluation, and accountability in AI governance, prioritizing public interest, equity, and transparency in high-impact sectors.
Funding for work that builds capacity to address risks from transformative AI
Funding for work that builds capacity to address risks from transformative AI supports new and existing AI-risk talent through training, networks, and shared knowledge to help society navigate transformative AI.
Researcher Access Program
Researcher Access Program supports researchers and research nonprofits with OpenAI API access to study responsible AI deployment, mitigate risks, and examine AI’s effects on people and society.
Technical PhD Fellowships
Technical PhD Fellowships support PhD researchers studying AI existential risks and developing technical approaches to reduce them, strengthening the research community working on AI existential safety.
SFF is taking on a more proactive stance toward AI risk
The SFF Initiative Committee internally identifies and funds research projects aimed at reducing existential risks from advanced AI and related technologies, focusing on AI safety, policy, and global flourishing.
US-China AI Governance PhD Fellowships
US-China AI Governance PhD Fellowships support doctoral researchers studying AI governance and international cooperation to reduce risks from US-China competition and unsafe AI race dynamics.
AI for Information Security call for proposals - Fall 2026
AI for Information Security call for proposals - Fall 2026 supports academic and nonprofit researchers developing AI for security operations, threat detection, and model protection to address security challenges.
Multilingual and Contextual AI Evaluation call for proposals - Fall 2026
Multilingual and Contextual AI Evaluation call for proposals - Fall 2026 supports academic and nonprofit researchers evaluating AI across languages and cultures to address gaps in the Global South.
AI Opportunity
AI Opportunity supports Chicago youth, communities, and nonprofits through work on AI, the economy, and workforce, community-centered development, and nonprofit uses to expand equitable participation in AI.
AI and the Workforce
AI and the Workforce supports academic scholars researching how artificial intelligence affects employment, productivity, occupational change, and economic opportunity over time to deepen understanding of work.
Technical Postdoctoral Fellowships
The Technical Postdoctoral Fellowships from the Future of Life Institute support postdocs conducting technical research to reduce existential risks from advanced AI.
AWS Agentic AI call for proposals - Fall 2026
AWS Agentic AI call for proposals - Fall 2026 supports researchers developing agentic AI and open-source tools to advance human-AI collaboration, scientific discovery, and benefits for the wider AI community.
Cybersecurity Grant Program
Cybersecurity Grant Program supports researchers and teams developing AI-powered cyber defenses, measuring model capabilities and limitations, and sharing results to benefit the public.
AI Reporting Grants
The AI Reporting Grants from the Pulitzer Center fund global investigative journalism examining the societal impact and accountability of AI and surveillance technologies.
Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology
Supports early-stage research and technology projects in science, with a focus on AI and automation, to clarify needs and inform future strategies where other funding is scarce.
Artificial Intelligence in Communication Sciences and Disorders Research Grant
Supports interdisciplinary research integrating ethical and innovative AI solutions to advance clinical practice, education, and research in communication sciences and disorders.
Frequently asked questions
Philanthropic funders include Coefficient Giving, the Survival and Flourishing Fund, and the Future of Life Institute. AI companies fund outside research through programs such as the Anthropic Fellows Program, Google's academic research awards, and the Frontier Model Forum's AI Safety Fund.
Not always. Technical programs fund alignment, interpretability, and evaluations work, but many funders also support governance, policy, law, economics, and ethics research on advanced AI.
Yes. Several funders run PhD and postdoctoral fellowships, and some fellowship programs specifically recruit researchers who are new to the field. Check each listing's eligibility for career stage and location.
AI safety funding focuses on making advanced AI systems reliable, controllable, and beneficial, rather than on improving capabilities or applying AI to other fields. Atom's AI Research Grants collection covers the broader field.