The Internet Society Foundation Research Grant Program 2026 funds innovative research that deepens understanding of the Internet and its impact on society, including AI-related topics. The program supports four thematic areas: Inclusive Internet (addressing digital access barriers, affordability, gender disparities), Greening the Internet (environmental impact, energy efficiency, AI sustainability), Measuring Meaningful Connectivity (digital participation metrics, emerging technologies), and Trustworthy Internet (cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, trust). The program places special emphasis on supporting applicants from the Global South and underrepresented communities, and accepts proposals in English, French, and Spanish. Applications are submitted through the Foundation's Fluxx grant management platform between April 7 and May 22, 2026. Research outcomes should inform public policy, industry decisions, and technology development. This is one of the larger non-governmental funding sources for research on the societal impacts of Internet technologies including AI.

RAI UK Collaboration Grants is a grant from Responsible AI UK (RAI UK) that funds short-term collaborative research projects ensuring AI is deployed safely and responsibly across society. Priority focus areas include AI sustainability and energy demands, AI deployment cost-benefit methodologies, AI skills and public engagement, and AI engineering for dependable systems. Projects may be UK-domestic or international collaborations. Up to £200,000 is available across approximately 10 projects; individual awards are expected up to £20,000, with up to £50,000 available with exceptional justification. Grants are funded at 80% of full economic cost. Eligible lead applicants are UK UKRI-eligible higher education institutions and research organizations.

DSI Seed Fund Program: Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Research is sponsored by Columbia University - The Data Science Institute. Invests directly in faculty-led research through a competitive Seed Fund Program designed to cultivate new collaborations between data scientists and domain experts, promoting interdisciplinary inquiry aligned with university strategic priorities in AI, climate, mental health, a…

Innovation Grants (Climate Change AI) is sponsored by Climate Change AI (with support from Quadrature Climate Foundation, Google DeepMind, and Global Methane Hub). Supports projects that address research and deployment challenges in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and climate science by leveraging AI and machine learning. Emphasizes publicly released datasets, open-source tools, and reproducible research.

AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation, Tradeoffs and Economy (AI-CLIMATE) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. This institute leverages artificial intelligence to create more climate-smart practices that will absorb and store carbon while simultaneously boosting the economy in the agriculture and forestry industries.

The UNICEF Venture Fund provides up to US$100,000 in equity-free seed funding to early-stage, for-profit technology startups in UNICEF programme countries (developing countries) that are developing solutions to improve the lives of children. The Fund focuses on frontier technologies including data science, machine learning, AI, and blockchain. Specific AI focus areas include using ML/AI techniques to understand the digital world and its dynamics, understanding relationships between variables that impact development indicators (learning, socio-economic, resilience, health), and applying optimization techniques to improve service delivery and resource allocation. The Fund runs multiple thematic open calls throughout the year including Data Science & AI, Climate & Health, FemTech, and Child Online Safety. Startups must be registered in a UNICEF programme country, have a viable working prototype, and commit to open-source licensing. Women-led startups, young founders, and founders from emerging markets are especially encouraged to apply. The UNICEF Venture Fund has invested in over 200 startups across more than 70 countries since 2016.

The Klarna AI for Climate Resilience Program funds organizations developing practical AI solutions to help vulnerable communities in lower-middle-income countries adapt to climate change. The program supports three categories of projects: (1) harnessing and elevating local knowledge by using AI to organize and analyze community insights into concise, actionable information; (2) developing novel AI applications for climate adaptation in real-world settings such as smartphone-based AI advisory systems for smallholder farmers and AI-powered climate-risk assessments for vulnerable regions; and (3) enhancing existing AI climate solutions through improved adoption, cost-effectiveness, sustainability, or by contributing open datasets and benchmarks. The program is administered through Milkywire and encourages early-stage ideas that need support to refine technical or implementation details. Currently funded projects include disaster resilience and compensation systems, water security and quality improvement using AI, agricultural adaptation and precision irrigation, climate advisory services, environmental data collection, and conservation access. The program represents a significant corporate commitment to deploying AI technology for climate adaptation where it is most needed.

Climate Change AI Innovation Grants is sponsored by Climate Change AI. This program supports projects that address research and deployment challenges in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and climate science by leveraging AI and machine learning. It also focuses on creating publicly available datasets and tools to catalyze further work. Projects can cover areas such as climate change, biodiversity conservation, agriculture, and water.