AI Safety Research Grant

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Hewlett Foundation Announces $10 Million in Grants to Support the Security of Emerging Technologies You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Hewlett Foundation Announces $10 Million in Grants to Support the Security of Emerging Technologies Large grants to Stanford’s Hoover Institution and Vanderbilt anchor effort to foster innovation, advance scientific progress, and keep people safe (Menlo Park, Calif.

– February 10, 2026) – Today, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced $10 million in exploratory grants focused on the intersection of national security and frontier technologies to leading institutions across the United States. The total includes grants of $2.

5 million each to Stanford’s Hoover Institution and Vanderbilt University to help ensure society can take full advantage of remarkable technological advances in areas like artificial intelligence while addressing the national security concerns that come with them.

The $10 million in new funding announced by the foundation today also includes grants to eleven other leading civil society organizations to work on technology-related issues ranging from biosecurity to geopolitics. “Technological advances like those we’re seeing with AI hold great promise while also posing novel security challenges,” said Hewlett Foundation President Amber D. Miller .

“We believe that civil society institutions can play an important role in the deployment of new technologies to help people and boost American competitiveness, while tackling vulnerabilities they create in our critical infrastructure.

Hoover and Vanderbilt, and all the organizations we are supporting, have serious experts focused on strengthening national security and increasing cooperation across government, academia, and business against shared threats.

” These grants reflect the foundation’s longstanding work in security issues, as well as its growing focus on the societal and security implications of emerging technologies such as AI, biotechnology, and quantum computing.

Previous Hewlett grantmaking initiatives over the foundation’s 60-year history included work on cybersecurity, nuclear security, and conflict resolution — all of which reflect its ongoing commitment to supporting creative thinkers and problem solvers, turning ideas into action, and promoting constructive dialogue across difference.

Hewlett’s grant to the Hoover Institution Technology Policy Accelerator at Stanford University will support the development of a Tech Futures Lab that promotes insightful analysis and rigorous, independent thinking on emerging technology risks and convenes leaders from government, academia, and business.

“Emerging technologies are bringing transformational change at record pace, and this is raising profound questions for societies and governments,” said Secretary Condoleezza Rice, Director of the Hoover Institution and 66th U.S. Secretary of State . “The Hoover Institution is committed to rigorous, forward-looking research and cross-disciplinary collaboration to ensure these advances strengthen American leadership and resilience.

” The foundation’s grant to the Vanderbilt University Institute of National Security will advance the Wicked Problems Lab’s research portfolio, including a synthetic information filtering testbed, a research initiative designed to advance the study of AI-driven persuasion and help build resilience against emerging forms of synthetic information warfare.

“This grant from the Hewlett Foundation enables rigorous, policy-relevant research at a moment when artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the information environment,” said General Paul M. Nakasone (Ret.) , Founding Director, Vanderbilt University Institute of National Security.

“Through the work of our Wicked Problems Lab, this support allows us to deepen academic understanding of AI-driven influence operations while translating research insights into knowledge that policymakers and scholars can use to strengthen democratic resilience.

” The other institutions receiving grants are AI Now Institute, the Aspen Institute, the Atlantic Council, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Council on Foreign Relations, Georgetown University, the Global Network Initiative, the Institute for Security and Technology, Observer Research Foundation America, RAND, and Sentinel Bio.

These exploratory grants also aim to support grantees seeking to protect people and critical systems from scams, cyber threats, and technology-driven disruptions while promoting fair, transparent global tech standards that strengthen security, stabilize supply chains, and protect the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.

The foundation is exploring the potential for additional grantmaking focused on the security of emerging technologies to bolster U.S. national security while supporting efforts to use technology to make everyday life safer and better for people in the United States and around the world.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation invests in creative thinkers and problem solvers working to ensure people, communities, and the planet can flourish. Together with our partners, we are harnessing society’s collective capacity to solve our toughest problems.

As a nonpartisan philanthropy, the Hewlett Foundation has made grants in the U.S. and globally for six decades, based on an approach that emphasizes dialogue across difference, long-term support, collaboration, and trust. Learn more at www. hewlett.

org.