OpenAI's $50M People-First AI Fund: Who's Eligible and How to Apply

When OpenAI announced a $50 million philanthropic fund last September, the grant world took notice. Not because a tech company was writing checks — that happens constantly — but because the People-First AI Fund targeted a population most AI investment ignores: small and mid-size nonprofits with annual budgets under $10 million, many of which had never touched an AI tool.

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What the Fund Actually Pays For

The People-First AI Fund, administered by the OpenAI Foundation, committed $50 million to U.S.-based nonprofits working in three priority areas: AI literacy and public understanding, community innovation that improves access to essential services, and economic opportunity as AI reshapes the labor market.

Grants are unrestricted, meaning recipients can deploy the funds however they see fit — staffing, technology, operations, capacity building. That distinction matters. Most tech-sector grants come loaded with conditions about adopting specific platforms or reporting on narrow product metrics. OpenAI's approach gives organizations room to figure out where AI fits within their existing work rather than mandating it from the top down.

The first disbursement totaled $40.5 million across 208 organizations, announced in December 2025. A second wave of $9.5 million in board-directed grants is slated for early 2026, targeting organizations already advancing scalable AI work in areas like health, education, and community resilience.

Who Qualified — and Who Didn't

Eligibility requirements were specific. Applicants needed to be a 501(c)(3) public charity located in and primarily serving the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia. The budget window was tight: annual operating budgets had to exceed $500,000 but remain below $10 million. That range deliberately excluded both the smallest grassroots groups and the large institutional nonprofits that typically dominate philanthropic giving.

One critical exclusion: programs, centers, or departments housed within larger institutions were ineligible, even if their own budgets fell within the qualifying range. A university lab with a $3 million budget operating under a billion-dollar institution would not qualify. Organizations planning to use funds for regranting were also excluded.

Previous AI experience was not required. The fund explicitly welcomed applicants at every stage of AI adoption — from organizations just beginning to explore the technology to those already running pilot deployments.

How the Selection Process Worked

The initial application window ran from September 8 through October 8, 2025, at 11:00 p.m. PT. Applications were submitted through OpenAI's grantee portal, with one submission permitted per organization.

Nearly 3,000 organizations applied. The OpenAI Foundation assembled a review process that included external grantmaking experts, independent advisors, and members of a dedicated Nonprofit Commission. Every application received a human review. Shortlisted candidates were advanced through a multi-stage screening before final consideration by the OpenAI Foundation Board.

The resulting approval rate hovered near 7 percent — competitive, but not as brutal as federal rates for programs like NIH R01s, which can dip below 20 percent depending on the institute.

What the First Cohort Looks Like

The 208 funded organizations span a wide cross-section of the nonprofit sector. Direct service providers dominate the cohort: veterans support networks, rural health clinics, food security organizations, mental health providers, STEM education programs, and disability advocacy groups. Native-led media organizations and tribal AI literacy programs also received funding, as did faith-based networks and local business development organizations.

Geographic distribution covers urban and rural communities across every U.S. region, with a notable concentration in California — unsurprising given the Foundation's Bay Area roots. The common thread is not technical sophistication but community proximity: these are organizations delivering frontline services, often with thin margins, now receiving unrestricted capital to experiment with AI-assisted operations.

The $40.5 million across 208 grantees works out to roughly $195,000 per organization on average, though actual award sizes likely varied. For a nonprofit operating on a $2 million annual budget, that represents nearly 10 percent of yearly revenue — enough to hire a dedicated technologist, license enterprise software, or run a meaningful pilot program.

What Comes Next for Applicants

The initial application round is closed. The remaining $9.5 million in board-directed grants has not yet opened a public application, and OpenAI has not announced a timeline for a second open cycle. The Foundation has signaled ongoing commitment — stating it will continue learning alongside grantees and broadening its support — but has not committed to a specific 2026 application window.

For nonprofits that missed the first round, the playbook is straightforward. Monitor the OpenAI Foundation's announcement page for updates. Build internal documentation of your AI readiness and community impact now, so you can move quickly when applications reopen. And look beyond OpenAI: federal agencies including NSF, NIST, and DARPA all fund AI-adjacent work, and private foundations from Schmidt Futures to the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation run parallel programs targeting nonprofit AI adoption.

Questions about the fund can be directed to peoplefirstfund@openai.com.

Whether you are tracking OpenAI's next funding cycle or scanning dozens of federal and foundation opportunities at once, Granted can surface the right matches and help you build a competitive application before deadlines close.