The European AI & Society Fund has received a $1 million grant from Luminate to advance its work in ensuring that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developed and deployed in Europe in ways that prioritise the public good, human rights, and social justice.
The Fund is a collaboration between 14 foundations empowering civil society groups across Europe to shape AI policy and debates. This grant will enable the Fund to support a broader field of organisations, build their capacity and skills for long-term engagement and amplify the voices of marginalised communities most at risk from AI’s potential harms, such as algorithmic discrimination and economic exclusion.
AI policy is at a critical moment in Europe, with significant strides in AI and technology regulation made through landmark legislation such as the AI Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act under the EU’s last five-year mandate.
As the EU begins a new political cycle, the Fund will focus on equipping civil society to ensure these regulatory frameworks deliver meaningful accountability and reflect the needs of people in Europe, as well as start to reimagine ways in which technologies could be used to promote fair, inclusive and sustainable societies.
Catherine Miller, Director of the European AI & Society Fund, said:
“We now have a unique opportunity to seize the agenda and make sure AI works for everyone, not just the powerful few corporations that are benefiting from AI hype. Luminate’s support allows us to scale our work to grow the community of public interest experts that can demand accountability when AI causes harm and spark new ideas on how AI could serve people and society.”
Guillermo Beltrà, Policy Director at Luminate Strategic Initiatives, said:
“Many countries and institutions around the world are grappling with the question on how to best govern AI so that it benefits people and not only companies and their shareholders. Europe has the potential to chart an alternative path that puts the public interest and social justice at the heart of new technologies. To succeed, it needs a strong, diverse and well-resourced ecosystem of civil society experts, and that’s precisely what the European AI & Society Fund is set up to deliver.”
Alongside the support from Luminate, the Fund is galvanising other funders to scale philanthropic engagement in AI accountability and social justice, with a target of bringing at least €10m more into the field by 2025. The Fund has already begun grantmaking and announced €4m Making Regulation Work Programme with two open calls for funding. It will support social justice and digital rights advocates to come together to analyse and experiment with the new regulations, demand redress for injustice and advocate for accountability where there are regulatory gaps. The Fund’s work also aims to galvanise further philanthropic engagement to sustain advocacy efforts over the long term.
Note to Eds
The European AI & Society Fund supports almost 40 diverse public interest groups across Europe by galvanising funding to empower them with the capacity and skills to shape policy and debates so that AI is used to promote fair inclusive and sustainable societies. It pools resources from 14 philanthropic foundations and has invested over €8 million in growing a community of civil society groups that can shape the AI agenda in the public interest, free from corporate or government ties.
The Fund’s Breakthrough Initiative aims to bring at least €10m more into the field to meet the moment of opportunity around AI. As part of this and thanks to support secured from Luminate and others, the Fund recently launched the €4m Making Regulation Work programme to fund work on AI accountability.
About Luminate
Luminate envisions a future where everyone has power to shape society. Our mission is to ensure that everyone – especially those who are underrepresented – has the information, rights, and power to influence the decisions that affect us all.