Who funds them, what they fund and how to apply.
AFWERX's SBIR/STTR program funds dual-use technology for the U.S. Air Force through Open Topic, Specific Topic, and STRATFI/TACFI scale-up solicitation tracks, released as continuous numbered cycles (e.g. "26.BZ"). Specific Topic 26.BZ and 26.TZ Release 5 is open through 23 September 2026.
A $100 million Bezos Earth Fund initiative funding projects that apply AI to sustainable proteins, power grid optimization, and biodiversity conservation. It runs in two phases: Phase I seed grants of $50,000 to up to 30 grantees (submissions closed August 13, 2024), followed by Phase II implementation grants of up to $2 million to 15 grantees. Eligible applicants include US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits and academic institutions globally.
Renaissance Philanthropy fund applying AI and machine learning to mathematical research: new ML paradigms for mathematical discovery, tools and infrastructure for mathematicians, automated theorem proving and AI-assisted proof development, and open mathematical datasets/benchmarks. All funded code, datasets, and research outputs must be open-access with preprints in public repositories. Initial $9M round expanded by $13M announced March 2026; main grants of $100K-$1M for 12-24 months, plus $20K-$30K summer fellowships and up to $100K seed grants for early-stage work.
The Frontier Model Forum's AI Safety Fund awards grants to independent researchers at academic institutions, research institutions, NGOs, and mission-driven for-profits, for research addressing critical safety and security risks of frontier AI models and enabling standardized third-party evaluations. Proposed budgets are capped at $500,000 per grant, and rounds run as periodic competitive RFPs rather than rolling applications.
Amazon Research Awards give university researchers up to $100,000 in unrestricted funds plus up to $50,000 in AWS Promotional Credits, awarded across periodic calls for proposals.
International collaborative-research call for real-world AI robotics applications, part of the CONCERT-Japan framework.
NSF's active SBIR/STTR solicitation funds U.S. startups and small businesses developing next-generation scientific instrumentation and enabling technologies, including infrastructure for AI-driven discovery. Phase I proposals may request up to $305,000; applicants must first submit a Project Pitch and receive an invitation to submit a full proposal.
NIH's Common Fund PRIMED-AI initiative has two open RFAs for AI precision medicine: RFA-RM-27-011 (multi-use AI frameworks playbook, due 2026-10-09) and RFA-RM-27-013 (translating AI precision-medicine models into clinical use, due 2026-10-19).
The Survival and Flourishing Fund's recurring grant rounds, run once or twice per year via the S-Process algorithm and meeting procedure, recommend donations to organizations working on the long-term survival and flourishing of sentient life, including existential and global catastrophic risk reduction. A rolling Speculation Grant application runs year-round; a Speculation Grant guarantees eligibility for consideration in an S-Process round.
Joint Japan-Canada research call under JST's SICORP program, focused on AI and automation solutions for agricultural productivity and resilience. Japanese proposals go through e-Rad. Canadian teams register with NRC first.
NSF initiative funding State/Territory AI Readiness Coordination Hubs and a single National Coordination Lead (up to $5M/year for up to 5 years) to coordinate them nationally.
UNICEF Venture Fund's equity-free cohort for early-stage, open-source blockchain startups in emerging markets, funding accountability/financing use cases for children; up to US$100,000 in ETH/BTC/USDC plus mentorship over 12-18 months.
Anthropic's Claude Science program offered up to 50 biology and life-sciences projects as much as $30,000 in Claude credits, plus up to $2,000 in Modal compute for select projects. The inaugural application deadline was July 15, 2026, and submissions are now under review.
AI x Animals Pooled Fund is a targeted, experimental pooled fund supporting projects that help animal advocates respond to AI. The 2026 request for proposals had more than $300,000 available, expected to support 5-20 projects, and prioritized advocate tools, field-building, and actionable research.
The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs posted the Artificial Intelligence for American Competitiveness and Economic Security (AI-ACES) in South Asia opportunity (#DFOP0018586) on grants.gov, with a deadline of August 2, 2026.
Animal Microgrants was a 2026 funding-circle call for individuals and very small organizations working on farm-animal advocacy. Typical grants were £500-£2,500, with exceptional requests up to £5,000; applicants were expected to hear back by the end of March.
Who Let The Docs Out runs the Automation & Humanity Documentary Fund for independent nonfiction films examining AI safety, alignment, autonomous systems, and their social effects. Its 2026 research grants offer $8,000 for feature projects and $4,000 for short films, alongside monthly virtual sessions.
Amazon Research Awards' Spring 2026 call supported academic post-training research using AWS Trainium. The May 13 submission deadline has passed, with decisions scheduled for August 2026; selected teams may receive up to $50,000 or $250,000 and beyond in AWS promotional credits.
Status describes whether a program is running. Application methods are recorded separately. Read the funder’s terms before applying.