OpenAI and Rockefeller Foundations Launch $50M Initiative to Fund Municipal AI Projects
The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI Foundation Launch Funding for Municipal Artificial Intelligence Projects
The Rockefeller Foundation and the OpenAI Foundation launched a 50 million dollar initiative named Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services on October 14, 2026, as reported by PR Newswire. The funding program aims to deploy frontier artificial intelligence tools across global urban municipal departments to reach up to 100 million residents worldwide.
Financing for the partnership relies on a 40 million dollar contribution from the OpenAI Foundation alongside 10 million dollars provided by The Rockefeller Foundation. RF Catalytic Capital manages the operations of the grant program. Grants range from 500,000 to 2 million US dollars per project, split across two distinct support tracks. The seed track allocates between 500,000 and under one million dollars for initial pilot projects, while the scale track delivers one to two million dollars to expand established operational frameworks.
Proposals Must Be Submitted by November 29 2026
Eligible organizations must submit proposals before the application window closes on November 29, 2026, at 23:59 Eastern Time. Administrative and substantive questions close on October 31, 2026, with consolidated answers scheduled for publication on November 4, 2026. A second review phase concludes on March 1, 2027, leading to final funding announcements in April 2027.
Today, OpenAI Foundation and @RockefellerFdn are launching Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services, a $50 million initiative to support organizations that can help cities put AI to work on the problems their residents face every day.Through a global open call, Cities…
The grant initiative targets four explicit operational pillars: public health, economic mobility, environmental resilience, and civic engagement. Projects connected directly to elections are ineligible for financial backing. Successful applicants receive approved grant funds across a 24-month duration split into two equal tranches disbursed at project launch and upon meeting predetermined performance milestones. Non-profit and civil society organizations applying must partner directly with municipal governments and integrate modern frontier artificial intelligence into their proposals, though applicants face no requirement to use OpenAI technologies.
Prior Urban Pilot Programs Informing the Global Call
The global initiative builds upon a 2023 convening organized by The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI that brought together over 40 civic leaders from six continents. United Nations estimates from 2025 note that 45 percent of the global population of 8.2 billion individuals currently reside in urban environments, showing the scale of municipal infrastructure needs.
Previous model projects supported by The Rockefeller Foundation illustrate the target deployment models. In Cali, Colombia, the Dengue.AI’s outbreak forecasting system provides up to three weeks of warning prior to disease outbreaks, a framework slated for expansion to Cartagena. Additional reference models include a Cape Town’s resident-engagement platform focused on citizen messaging, alongside an Rio’s AI-enabled flood-alert system that transmits safety warnings to residents through WhatsApp.
“Over the past three years, we’ve seen what happens when city leaders, researchers, and local innovators build with AI around real problems. Cities Deliver takes what’s working in Cali, Cape Town, Rio, and elsewhere and opens it up to institutions everywhere,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation, in a statement published via PR Newswire.
Anna Makanju, Head of Civil Society & Philanthropy at OpenAI Foundation, noted in the release that city governments face significant barriers to adopting artificial intelligence, including high implementation costs and uncertainty around data protection. The program attempts to bridge these gaps by combining philanthropic capital with technical mentorship networks.