Luminate provides $1 million to grow our work

We are thrilled to have received a $1 million grant from Luminate to advance our work ensuring that Artificial Intelligence is developed and deployed in Europe in ways that prioritise the public good, human rights, and social justice. 

This grant will enable us 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, we 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.  

We have already begun grantmaking and have 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.