Rockefeller and OpenAI Foundations Partner on $50 Million AI for City Services Initiative

The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI Foundation have announced "Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services," a $50 million initiative aimed at helping cities globally leverage artificial intelligence to enhance public services. The program will award grants ranging from $500,000 to $2 million to eligible nonprofit and civil society organizations working with city governments to improve public health, economic mobility, environmental resilience, and civic engagement.

Through a global open call for proposals, the initiative seeks to support projects that can measurably improve access to and the quality of public services, potentially reaching up to 100 million city residents. Applications are open from October 14 to November 29, 2026. This effort builds on previous work by the foundations, including a 2023 convening that highlighted the need for AI talent, tools, and resources in urban governance.

"Cities Deliver" aims to address common challenges faced by city governments in AI adoption, such as high implementation costs and data protection concerns. It will combine philanthropic funding with opportunities for shared learning and access to expert networks to foster effective AI deployment.

The initiative's focus areas include public health, economic mobility, environmental resilience, and civic engagement. It plans to provide follow-on grants to existing projects, such as Rio de Janeiro's AI-enabled flood alert system and Dengue.AI's outbreak forecasting, to expand their reach and impact.