From algorithmic bias to surging energy use, the pace and scale of AI development puts communities, civil society and philanthropic funders on the back foot. There’s an urgent need to ensure that its deployment respects human rights, advances climate action, and protects gender equality and labour rights.
These are emergencies that no single foundation can address in isolation: the technology's reach is too broad, its implications too profound, and the companies deploying them too wealthy and powerful.
Today we’re proud that Luminate and the AI Collaborative’s support to the European AI & Society Fund's Breakthrough Initiative has helped catalyse over €5 million, together with nine more foundations. This collaboration aims to raise €10 million by the end of 2025 to support crucial work at the intersection of AI and society.
This announcement is a different kind of breakthrough: one that demonstrates how collective action can help ensure AI is developed with people's interests – and rights – at the heart.
As early partners in this initiative, we saw an opportunity to challenge and redress a future where AI is defined by its blind spots; where democracies or marginalised communities have almost no say in shaping a positive and inclusive vision for sweeping technologies poised to reshape public services, transform information ecosystems, and where tech companies are even more firmly rooted at the heart of our shared reality.
The response from our peer foundations has been remarkable. This coalition - and this funding - sends a strong statement. When foundations that traditionally focus on human rights, technology, and social justice come together, it signals a shared recognition that AI's impact on society requires urgent and coordinated action.
But when we pool resources and expertise, we can support the crucial work of civil society organisations fighting for fair and equitable uses of AI.
This collaboration demonstrates that while part of our future will be shaped by algorithms churning away in distant data centres, ensuring it benefits everyone requires very human qualities: partnership, trust, and a shared purpose.