Tarbell launches $10 million Institutional Grants program to expand AI journalism
October 5th, 2026 – Today the Tarbell Center for AI Journalism announces the launch of its new $10M Institutional Grants program that will fund newsrooms, media ventures, and series focused on AI. It launches with two media outlets already on board: NPR and Machine Gods.
Since its founding in 2022, Tarbell has supported rigorous and independent AI journalism by placing early to mid-career journalists inside major newsrooms via its fellowship program. In 2024, we doubled down on our commitment by offering reporting grants of $1,000 to $20,000 for individual stories about AI. To date Tarbell has awarded around $400,000 in these reporting grants.
Now, as the pace of AI development has accelerated dramatically, so have the stakes. Tarbell is meeting the moment by increasing the scale of its support for independent journalism with this new institutional grants program. The program will distribute grants of $50,000 to $500,000+ to fund everything from new reporting teams, investigative units and verticals at existing outlets to helping establish entirely new media ventures and series. Tarbell aims to distribute at least $10M in funding by the end of 2027 via this program to support ambitious, independent reporting on AI.
The first two grantees under this program are NPR’s Power and Influence team and Machine Gods. The informed, high quality coverage they produce helps people grapple with AI and its consequences – the kind of reporting that we believe this transformational moment needs.
- NPR’s Power and Influence team reports on how technology intersects with power, money, politics, and influence. Bringing decades of combined experience, this team leads NPR’s coverage of frontier AI across radio, podcast, and digital platforms. Tarbell has awarded the team a grant of $250,000 to support its coverage.
Brett Neely, Supervising Senior Editor, NPR said: “AI is an increasingly central storyline on many of the beats we’re covering at NPR. We’re working hard to inform our audience how the technology works, the ways in which it’s affecting their lives and the ways in which it’s remaking the world. We’re thrilled to have Tarbell’s support to help us cover AI with even more ambition and depth.” - Machine Gods is a new video-first show from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose, the creators of the hugely successful New York Times podcast Hard Fork, and two of the most recognized names in AI journalism today. The twice-weekly show, launching in partnership with NPR in October, will combine sharp news, expert analysis, and high-impact interviews with the builders and thinkers shaping the AI future. Applying journalistic rigor to both the promise and perils of the technology, Machine Gods will bring independent reporting on frontier AI companies directly to millions of viewers and listeners on YouTube, major podcast platforms, and public radio station feeds—completely free and non-paywalled. Tarbell is proud to support their coming launch with a grant of $480,000.
Kevin Roose said: “We are longtime admirers of Tarbell’s mission of funding high-quality AI journalism, and we’re thrilled to be a Tarbell grantee. Tarbell’s support will help us scale our show quickly, experiment with new formats, and bring more grounded, independent AI reporting into the world at a time when it’s critically needed.”
How the Institutional Grants program works
Tarbell’s grantmaking team is working to identify the journalistic endeavors best placed to close the gaps in AI coverage. We expect to fund a mix of institutions: from established outlets that need resources to go deeper on the AI beat, to new media ventures that can broaden and deepen the AI journalism ecosystem as a whole. Priority coverage areas include:
- Accountability reporting on frontier AI companies
- Investigations into AI lobbying and campaign financing
- AI policy coverage in the US and other priority jurisdictions such as the UK and the EU
- AI incident reporting
- AI foundational explainers and analysis
- AI’s transformative potential
- AI developments in China
- AI and labor market impacts
“When evaluating grant opportunities, we look to support journalism that has a positive impact on the development and deployment of advanced AI. This includes reporting on AI that helps society navigate major societal disruptions, holds the most powerful actors to account and supports collective sensemaking,” said Vincent Manancourt, Tarbell Program Director, Grants.
Grants will support organizations, teams, and series, with editorial decisions remaining entirely with the recipient newsroom. Editorial independence is core to Tarbell’s mission, and our grantees maintain complete autonomy over their reporting. Read Tarbell’s full editorial independence policy here.
“The headlines of the past few weeks have underlined how rapidly AI is developing and how much is at stake,” said Cillian Crosson, Tarbell’s Executive Director. “Too often, reporters are not afforded the time and resources needed to delve deep into the stories and issues that matter, while newsrooms come under increasing pressures to do more with less. Our new institutional grants program will help news teams build the capacity to do that work, advancing Tarbell’s mission to help society navigate the development and deployment of advanced AI.”
If you want to apply for funding under the program, please click here. Applications for this round close on December 11, 2026. We will not be able to evaluate every application that we receive and will only conduct a formal evaluation for proposals we are very likely to fund. If you’re a journalist or outlet interested in learning more, please contact grants@tarbellcenter.org.
Press contact: media@tarbellcenter.org
About Tarbell
As concerns about AI development and investment rapidly grow across governments, media and even technology companies themselves, questions and scrutiny of the industry have never been more critical. Tarbell aims to drive this focus through supporting independent journalism that demystifies the debates around AI, holds the companies and people building it to account, and fosters the discourse necessary to chart a path that benefits society.
The Tarbell Center for AI Journalism is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports journalism helping society navigate advanced AI, through the Tarbell Fellowship and Grants programs.