What we learnt from our Building Narrative Power open call
With nearly 400 applications from 28 countries, our €2 million Building Narrative Power funding and learning programme demonstrates the appetite across Europe to change the story around AI.
Who we fund
We back organisations around Europe working to ensure AI is safe and fair for everyone
The AI transformation affects everyone and the people we support come from all over Europe and all parts of society.
They are technology experts, human rights defenders, workers’ groups, racial justice activists, environmental campaigners, patients’ advocates and many more.
Our grantees speak up for the public in policy debates, make sure Europe’s advanced AI regulation is upheld and effective. They hold tech companies and governments to account so that AI is safe and fair for everyone.
We don’t just fund. We build trust, connection and power so that our community can work effectively and strategically to shift the direction of AI in the public interest.
“The European AI & Society Fund’s support for Foxglove over the past few years has been invaluable. It has enabled us to challenge Big Tech’s growing monopoly power, support tech workers to fight for better from Big Tech and expose and challenge the environmental costs of AI. Their funding and support has allowed us to act quickly, build powerful coalitions, file legal cases and respond to urgent issues.”
Martha Dark, Co-Executive Director of Foxglove, UK
"The support we've received has been transformative for The Good Lobby's work on digital rights and AI governance in Italy. Thanks to this funding, we've been able to strengthen the Italian Digital Human Rights Network."
Martina Turola Head of Communications and Institutional fundraising at The Good Lobby Italy
“Ongoing support from the European AI & Society Fund has been truly transformative for Homo Digitalis. We've evolved from a volunteer-driven collective into a professional, strategically focused organisation. This growth has strengthened our watchdog role, expanded our research, litigation, and advocacy capacities, and allowed us to build meaningful alliances with grassroots movements and academic actors."
Elpida Vamvaka, Co-founder and President of Homo Digitalis, Greece
“The European AI & Society Fund has fostered an ecosystem focused on AI, digital technologies, and society that enables meaningful collaboration across organisations. Through participation in shared events, co-signing letters, and endorsing joint actions with like-minded partners, ANEC has been able to amplify its voice and contribute more effectively to collective advocacy efforts.''
Chiara Giovannini, Deputy-Director General, ANEC, Belgium
Meet some of our grantees
Putting the public at the heart of Europe’s groundbreaking AI rules
Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) Europe
With support from the European AI & Society Fund, CDT were able to engage at critical moments in the development of the AI Act – globally the most advanced attempt to regulate Artificial Intelligence technologies – and push back against fierce tech industry lobbying.
→ Engaged civil society to have meaningful influence over the AI Act
→ Argued for the protection of most at-risk groups
→ Now a bridge between EU Commission policymakers and wider social justice movement
Protecting patients’ care and rights from AI-driven healthcare systems
Health Action International (HAI)
Funding from the European AI & Society Fund enabled HAI to apply its expertise on equitable access to healthcare to the field of AI.
→ They successfully argued for medical devices to be designated as high-risk AI in the European Union’s AI Act, ensuring stronger protections for patients.
→ Through animations they’ve helped explain to the public the potential applications and risks of AI such as loss of privacy, consent, discrimination, creating better awareness of the issues ahead of the release of the Dutch government’s AI & healthcare strategy.
→ They also set up the Digital Rights and Health Alliance to coordinate advocacy on tech and health policy in Europe.
Fighting for equality all the way to the Spanish Supreme Court
CIVIO
Spanish journalists and campaigners Civio won a landmark case in the Spanish Supreme Court.
→ Their six-year long investigation into an automated welfare programme called Bosco exposed how errors in the system prevented eligible citizens from accessing energy subsidies.
→ The Supreme Court ruling establishes that knowing the ins and outs of the programmes and algorithms used by public administrations is a democratic right.
How to apply for funding
The European AI & Society Fund is not currently accepting requests for funding.
We do most of our grantmaking through Open Calls so that we can discover new groups that are ready to take action for a fairer future.
We do not take introductory calls due to the limited capacity of our small team and to avoid unrealistic expectations that these conversations might lead to funding.
Latest funding news
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