AI nonprofit will spend $10 million on journalism

The Tarbell Center for AI Journalism, a Silicon Valley nonprofit closely connected to the AI safety movement, has announced plans to allocate $10 million by the end of 2027 to support mainstream and independent coverage of artificial intelligence. Executive director Cillian Crosson revealed that the organization will launch an institutional grantmaking fund, providing grants to newsrooms and ambitious AI reporting projects.

NPR's new video podcast, hosted by former NPR journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, is the first recipient of the funding, receiving a $480,000 grant. In addition to this, Tarbell is also supporting NPR's "Power and Influence" desk with $250,000 to enhance its coverage of AI's intersection with politics, money, and power.

Crosson emphasized the importance of financial resources for newsrooms to ensure robust reporting. The grant will enable the organization to support a wider range of perspectives, including investigative teams, AI verticals at national outlets, and large-scale initiatives in both new and legacy media. Tarbell's focus is on expanding reporting on frontier companies and exploring how AI companies and related political action groups are impacting American politics and tech regulations.

This announcement marks a significant shift for Tarbell, as its previous grants, amounting to $400,000 over four years, primarily supported early-career journalists within established newsrooms and provided media organizations with reporting grants ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 to cover individual AI stories. With the increased monetary support, the organization plans to offer grants between $50,000 and $500,000, with the potential to fund multimillion-dollar projects.

While Tarbell's funding is provided with no formal strings attached, it has faced criticism from some within the AI industry and on the political right, who view it as exacerbating what they perceive as overblown safety concerns. Some of Tarbell's subjects, such as OpenAI, have expressed dissatisfaction with the reporting and financial backing from organizations aligned with effective altruism, a philosophical movement concerned with AI-driven apocalyptic scenarios.

However, Semafor has not found any instances where Tarbell intervened directly in stories, and the organization emphasizes its editorial independence, with two firewalls separating its funding efforts from its backers and the media organizations it supports. Tarbell discloses its donors exceeding $10,000, maintains fellow autonomy over reporting, and urges news outlets it partners with to disclose any funding support.

Former Tarbell fellow Casey Newton, now hosting the NPR podcast, confirmed that Tarbell's funding has been instrumental in launching the project and expressed gratitude for its support.