AI Safety Nonprofit Pledges $10M for Journalism Grants

Overview

A Silicon Valley nonprofit closely aligned with the AI safety movement is committing $10 million by the end of 2027 to support journalism covering artificial intelligence. The Tarbell Center for AI Journalism announced Thursday that it is launching an institutional grantmaking fund designed to bolster both mainstream and independent reporting on the technology.

Executive director Cillian Crosson stated that the new fund will provide financial grants to newsrooms and other ambitious AI reporting projects. This marks a significant scaling up from the organization’s previous efforts, which totaled just $400,000 over four years.

“We think that having resources at newsrooms is an important part of ensuring strong coverage,” Crosson told Semafor. “The new fund will increase our support but it also allows us to more easily support a more diverse range of perspectives.”

Funding Structure and First Recipients

The Tarbell Center plans to issue grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000, with the possibility of multimillion-dollar awards for exceptional projects. This represents a dramatic shift from its earlier model, which offered media organizations smaller reporting grants between $1,000 and $20,000 for individual stories.

The first major recipient of the new institutional fund is Machine Gods, NPR’s new video podcast hosted by former Hard Fork co-hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton. The project is receiving a $480,000 grant from the organization.

Additionally, Tarbell is backing NPR’s “Power and Influence” desk with a separate $250,000 grant. This funding aims to expand coverage of how AI intersects with politics, money, and power within public media.

Focus Areas

The organization, backed by deep-pocketed groups including Coefficient Giving, has outlined specific priorities for its expanded funding:

• Investigative teams focused on frontier AI companies
• AI verticals at national outlets
• Large-scale initiatives in both new and legacy media
• Reporting on the influence of AI companies and aligned political action groups on American tech regulations

Editorial Independence and Firewalls

In recent years, Tarbell fellows have distributed themselves across major news outlets, breaking stories that have exposed reckless or aggressive actions by AI companies and frontier labs. While the funding model has proven effective for investigative journalism, it has also drawn criticism.

Some figures in the AI industry and on the political right have argued that the nonprofit fuels exaggerated safety concerns. Subjects of Tarbell-supported journalism, including OpenAI, have complained about coverage from organizations aligned with effective altruism—a philosophical movement concerned with mitigating existential risks from AI.

Despite these criticisms, Semafor has not found instances where Tarbell directly interfered in editorial decisions. The organization maintains that its fellows retain complete autonomy over their reporting.

Dual Firewalls

In a recent interview, Crosson emphasized that the organization operates with two strict editorial firewalls:

1. One firewall separates Tarbell from its financial backers
2. Another firewall exists between Tarbell and the media organizations it supports

The nonprofit discloses all donors contributing over $10,000 and requires partner news outlets to disclose when they have received funding for a journalist or project. Crosson noted that not all projects supported by Tarbell are aligned with strong AI safety positions or skepticism toward the technology.

Industry Response

Kevin Roose responded to the funding announcement by highlighting the practical benefits the organization has provided to independent creators. He noted that his co-host Casey Newton worked with Tarbell during their time at Platformer and found the group to be a steadfast supporter of independent journalism.

“Their funding has been very useful in helping us get started,” Roose said. “It was a way for us to de-risk going out on our own. We’re feeling quite good about it and are grateful.”

The expansion comes at a time when cash-strapped news organizations are balancing concerns about the optics of outside funding against the need for financial support and aggressive investigative journalism. Many outlets have struggled to dedicate sufficient resources to covering the rapid developments in AI, making external grants increasingly vital.

Strategic Expansion

The jump from $400,000 to $10 million represents a 25-fold increase in financial commitment. This expansion reflects the growing recognition that AI is one of the most consequential technological developments of the decade, yet coverage remains fragmented and under-resourced relative to the topic’s significance.

Tarbell’s previous grants focused heavily on early-career journalists embedded within established newsrooms. The new institutional fund shifts focus toward supporting entire newsroom capacities and larger-scale reporting initiatives. This strategy aims to build sustainable AI journalism ecosystems rather than funding isolated stories.

The organization plans to support a diverse range of perspectives, acknowledging that the AI discourse includes safety advocates, industry supporters, and critical observers. By widening the scope of funded reporting, Tarbell hopes to produce more nuanced coverage that reflects the complexity of the field.

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, the role of independent journalism in holding developers, regulators, and policymakers accountable is likely to grow. The Tarbell Center’s expanded funding could play a pivotal role in ensuring that this coverage remains robust, diverse, and financially viable for years to come.