Fund in-depth reporting on AI and its impacts

Tarbell supports independent journalism covering AI. Our mission is to build a global community of expert journalists covering artificial intelligence.

Funds raised here will primarily support Tarbell Grants, a fund that supports in-depth reporting by experienced journalists on AI and its impacts.

A crucial moment for AI reporting

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming one of the most influential and powerful industries globally. The companies behind this technology are gaining unprecedented political and economic power, with their decisions likely to affect all our lives.

Yet the economics of journalism mean that remarkably little is being spent on investigating AI companies and their activities. There are very few AI journalists (we estimate just a few dozen full-time AI reporters), and reporters frequently tell us that they lack the time or resources to cover everything they'd like. In particular, in-depth investigations are falling by the wayside.

For proper democratic oversight of AI, we need much more in-depth investigative journalism that examines what companies are doing, exposes wrongdoing, and holds them accountable. Tarbell Grants is an effort to support such impactful journalism.

What is Tarbell Grants?

Tarbell Grants offers awards of $1,000 - $15,000 to support journalism on AI and its impacts.

We fund established journalists to pursue original reporting on current & future harms from frontier models, investigate the inner workings of leading AI companies, and scrutinize lobbying efforts shaping AI policy.

Funding untold stories with real-world impact

We fund stories that would otherwise go unreported, with a particular interest in stories focused on:

• Harms from AI: How artificial intelligence is harming people around the world today, and how it might harm them in future. e.g. pieces on deepfake CSAM, cybersecurity, racial bias, and biosecurity.
• Investigations into frontier AI companies: What is happening inside AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Meta. e.g. concerns workers have about their employers, or practices that are silencing them.
• AI policy: Stories on AI policy developments in key regions, such as the US, EU and China, and how lobbying efforts are trying to shape policy. e.g. reporting on AI regulatory agencies and the difficulties they are facing; AI companies’ lobbying efforts; and other efforts to influence AI regulation.
• Explainers: Pieces that help the public understand complex topics in artificial intelligence. e.g. the difficulties of AI evaluations, or an overview of AI interpretability.
• Anything else: ​​We also welcome pitches on topics not listed here.

About Tarbell:

Tarbell is a nonprofit supporting independent journalism on AI.

Tarbell operates as ""Players Philanthropy Fund DBA Training for Good" through a fiscal sponsorship with Players Philanthropy Fund, a Maryland charitable trust recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Federal Tax ID: 27-6601178, ppf.org/pp). Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

We run three programmes:

• Tarbell Fellowship: Our flagship programme provides early career journalists with training, a stipend of up to $50,000, and a 9-month placement at a major newsroom. 2024 placements include MIT Tech Review, The Information, TIME, and many others.
• Journalists-in-residence: We provide senior writers with funding to pursue longer investigations, explore entrepreneurial projects, and educate themselves on artificial intelligence.
• Tarbell Grants: We provide awards of $1k-$15k for impactful reporting on artificial intelligence and its impacts.

By 2029, we seek to support 1,000 high-quality stories on AI at major news outlets. We aim to 10x in size within 5 years, scaling Tarbell into a journalism organisation of comparable size and impact to the Pulitzer Center.