Google, through its charitable arm Google.org, recently announced the launch of a new generative AI accelerator program with a budget of up to $30 million, aimed at supporting nonprofit organizations that utilize generative AI. This six-month accelerator program will provide participating organizations with technical training, credits for Google Cloud services, and support from Google employees in their charitable efforts. Additionally, participating organizations will receive some funding support to further advance their innovative projects.
Nonprofit organizations wishing to apply must submit their applications by February 10 at g.co/Accelerator/GenAI. This is Google's second similar initiative; the first accelerator took place in 2024 and brought together 21 nonprofit organizations. These organizations made significant progress in various fields, including climate change, health, economic opportunities, education, and crisis response.
The accelerator aims to address the various barriers that nonprofit organizations face when implementing AI technologies. Google stated that three-quarters of nonprofits believe generative AI is relevant to their work, but nearly half of them have been unable to use the technology effectively due to a lack of awareness, training, tools, and funding. For example, CareerVillage, which participated in the 2024 accelerator, is developing an AI career coach to help individuals plan their career paths; Climate Policy Radar is building an AI-driven search interface to better query climate laws and policies; and Full Fact is using AI technology to summarize a large number of health-related rumors, thereby alleviating the workload of fact-checkers.
Notably, last year Google.org awarded a $1 million grant to the Indian nonprofit Karya to help provide AI-based learning and employment opportunities for low-income communities globally. Karya plans to use this grant to develop a skills curriculum based on research and practical experience and translate it into ten major Indian languages. Google.org aims to assist organizations in developing AI solutions that benefit over 30 million people by 2028.
Additionally, in October 2024, Google launched the AI Skills Hub program at the 10th "Google for India" conference in India, aiming to provide AI training for 10 million Indians. Following that, Google.org announced a $4 million grant to the Central Square Foundation to enhance awareness of responsible AI within India's education system.
Key Points:
🌟 Google.org launches a $30 million generative AI accelerator program to support nonprofits.
🤝 Participating organizations will receive technical training, cloud service credits, and support from Google employees.
🌍 The program aims to help 30 million people benefit by 2028, promoting the application of AI technology in the nonprofit sector.
