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The John Templeton Foundation's Intelligence Venture is the Foundation's first Venture and commits over USD 60 million in grants over three years beginning in 2026 to fundamental questions about intelligence: what it is, what it is for, and what its future will be.
It matters to AI researchers for a specific reason - it is one of the few large private funds explicitly willing to support conceptual, philosophical and cross-disciplinary work on intelligence at a moment when almost all AI money is directed at capability, safety engineering or applications. The Venture organizes work under four thematic lenses.
The Story of Intelligence covers historical and contemporary philosophical and religious perspectives. The Diversity of Intelligence covers scientific advances in cellular, animal and artificial intelligences, which is an unusual framing that invites direct comparison between machine learning systems and biological cognition rather than treating them as separate literatures.
The Plurality of Intelligence covers collective intelligence across species and systems, relevant to multi-agent and swarm work.
The Future of Intelligence addresses the implications of artificial superintelligence and cognitive enhancement, asking explicitly whose hand should be on the wheel regarding accelerating or decelerating AI advancement, and how to design a future of flourishing and wisdom for augmented, enhanced and shared intelligence.
Eligible disciplines are named broadly: philosophers and ethicists, biologists and neuroscientists, physicists and computer scientists among others. The Venture does not run as a standalone call with its own deadline; applicants are directed to the relevant funding area pages for field-specific guidance and to apply through the Foundation's standard grant process, which begins with an online funding inquiry rather than a full proposal.
Identifying the correct funding area and reading its specific guidance is the necessary first step.
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Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: The Intelligence Venture is the John Templeton Foundation's first Venture, committing over USD 60,000,000 in grants distributed over three years starting in 2026 across the Foundation's six funding areas. Named eligible disciplines include philosophers and ethicists, biologists and neuroscientists, physicists and computer scientists, indicating a deliberately cross-disciplinary intent; in Foundation practice, applicants are typically universities, research institutes and non-profit organizations, with the principal investigator based at the applying institution. Research must address the Venture's central questions about the nature, purpose and future of intelligence under four thematic lenses: the Story of Intelligence, covering historical and contemporary philosophical and religious perspectives; the Diversity of Intelligence, covering scientific advances in cellular, animal and artificial intelligences; the Plurality of Intelligence, covering collective intelligence across species and systems; and the Future of Intelligence, covering the implications of artificial superintelligence and cognitive enhancement. The Venture does not operate as a standalone call with its own published deadline, award ceiling or eligibility annex. Applicants are directed to consult the relevant funding area pages for field-specific guidance and to apply through the Foundation's standard grant application process at templeton.org/grants/apply-for-grant, which begins with an online funding inquiry that is reviewed before any invitation to submit a full proposal. Because guidance, budget norms, review timelines and deadlines differ by funding area, applicants should identify the appropriate funding area first and verify all eligibility conditions, application stages, permitted budget ranges and submission dates on that area's page and in the Foundation's current grant guidelines before preparing an inquiry. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows the Foundation has committed over USD 60,000,000 in grants under the Intelligence Venture, distributed over three years beginning in 2026 across its six funding areas. Individual grant sizes are not published for the Venture itself; amount_min of 100,000 and amount_max of 3,000,000 reflect the range across which John Templeton Foundation grants are typically made rather than a Venture-specific figure, spanning small single-investigator projects at the low end and multi-year multi-institution programmes at the high end. Applicants should note that the Foundation's funding areas each carry their own guidance and budget norms, so the realistic range for any specific proposal depends on which funding area it enters through - which makes identifying the right funding area page an earlier and more consequential step than estimating a budget. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
John Templeton Foundation Intelligence Venture for Research on the Nature, Diversity and Future of Intelligence Including Artificial Superintelligence is funded by John Templeton Foundation. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.