Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, announced the launch of a $30 million generative AI accelerator program designed to support nonprofit organizations and help them better utilize generative AI technology. The six-month program will provide participating nonprofits with technical training, credits for Google Cloud services, pro bono support from Google employees, and partial funding to support their innovative projects. This initiative aims to address the many challenges that non-profit organizations face when applying AI technology, such as lack of awareness, training, tools and funding. The ultimate goal is to help more than 30 million people benefit by 2028.
Google, through its philanthropic arm Google.org, recently announced the launch of a new generative AI accelerator program with a budget of up to $30 million, designed to support non-profit organizations using generative AI. The six-month accelerator program provides participating organizations with technical training, credits toward Google Cloud services, and pro bono support from Google employees. In addition, participating organizations will receive partial financial support to further advance their innovative projects.
Nonprofit organizations applying to participate need to submit applications by February 10 at g.co/Accelerator/GenAI. This is Google’s second similar program, with the first accelerator taking place in 2024 and bringing together 21 nonprofits. These organizations have made significant progress in a variety of areas, including climate change, health, economic opportunity, education and crisis response.
The accelerator is designed to address the various barriers that nonprofits face when applying AI technology. Google says three-quarters of nonprofits believe generative AI is relevant to their work, but nearly half are failing to use the technology effectively due to a lack of awareness, training, tools and funding. For example, CareerVillage, which is participating in the 2024 accelerator, is developing an AI career coach to help individuals plan their career paths; Climate Policy Radar is building an AI-driven search interface to better query climate laws and policies; and Full Fact is leveraging AI technology to summarize large numbers of health myths, thereby easing the workload of fact-checkers.
Notably, last year Google.org also awarded a $1 million grant to Indian nonprofit Karya to help provide AI-based learning and employment opportunities in low-income communities around the world. Karya plans to use the grant to develop a skills curriculum based on research and practical experience and translate it into ten major Indian languages. Google.org's goal is to help organizations develop AI solutions that benefit more than 30 million people by 2028.
In addition, in October 2024, Google also launched the AI Skills House program at the 10th "Google for India" conference in India, aiming to provide AI training to 10 million Indians. Immediately afterwards, Google.org also announced a US$4 million grant to the Central Square Foundation to promote responsible AI awareness in the Indian education system.
Highlight:
Google.org launches $30 million generative AI accelerator program to support nonprofits.
Participating organizations will receive technical training, cloud service credits, and pro bono support from Google employees.
The project aims to help 30 million people benefit by 2028 and promote the application of AI technology in the non-profit field.
All in all, Google's move reflects its determination to actively promote the application of AI technology in public welfare undertakings, empower non-profit organizations, jointly respond to global challenges, and create a better future. The successful implementation of this plan is expected to accelerate the application of AI technology in various industries and bring widespread social benefits.