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.

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.

Climate Change AI Innovation Grants support projects addressing research and deployment challenges in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and climate science by leveraging AI and machine learning. Projects must create publicly available datasets and tools to catalyze further work. The program has funded projects spanning agriculture, biodiversity, climate modeling, disaster management, energy systems, forests, marine systems, transportation, and urban planning. Grant rounds are issued periodically with the most recent 2024 round having closed in September 2024. Partnership inquiries at partnerships@climatechange.ai.