Our work on AI so far has equipped journalists to understand community needs and perceptions, be transparent about their own use of AI, and educate their communities about how AI works.
Trusting News receives OpenAI grant for work on AI literacy and tool development
Trusting News has been selected as a grantee of the OpenAI Foundation’s 2026 People-First AI Fund. This $60,000 unrestricted grant will support our ongoing work on AI, including in these two key areas:
- Helping newsrooms play an active role in AI literacy. We will continue equipping newsrooms to create content and host community events that help the public understand how AI is being used around them and feel empowered to make decisions about the role technology plays in their lives.
- Making 10 years of our research-backed trust strategies more accessible and scaleable. Trusting News is exploring how AI and technology can bring our best practices into environments where journalists and information providers are gathering, creating and sharing information with communities.
In announcing the funding, the foundation wrote this:
“Through unrestricted grants, we’re giving these trusted institutions the resources and flexibility to explore how AI can strengthen their work—and how the people and communities they serve can engage with and shape its use. The Fund supports nonprofits at every stage of AI learning and experimentation, from those just beginning to ask what the technology could make possible to those piloting tools they co-created with communities. Our goal is to support their leadership as they work to understand this technology, its impacts, and the use cases that best serve their missions.”
Trusting News Assistant Director Lynn Walsh has been leading our work on AI, which has produced practical resources in these key areas:
- Listen. A survey to learn how your community feels about AI and your use of it. A community interview guide to dive deeper into those feelings. Questions to ask to get regular community feedback on your use of AI.
- Be transparent. A worksheet to create an AI use policy (create one in Spanish). A worksheet to create in-story AI use disclosures. Sample language to copy/paste into AI use disclosures and policies. Newsroom examples of AI policies, AI use disclosures and other AI transparency initiatives.
- Be ethical. A resource to help spot and disclose AI in content you don’t control. A collection of research to help you understand how the public feels about AI.
- Educate. Learn how to help your community understand AI and build trust in the process. Our AI Literacy Trust Kit includes an AI Literacy Quiz, AI Literacy social content, AI Literacy event agendas and more to help you educate your community about AI.
If you would like to stay up-to-date with our latest research in this area or learn about opportunities to participate in future newsroom cohorts and coaching related to AI, subscribe to our Trust Tips newsletter. If you are interested in requesting training or partnering with us on any of this work, or if you are interested in funding additional work in this area, contact Trusting News Executive Director Joy Mayer at Joy@TrustingNews.org.
At Trusting News, we learn how people decide what news to trust and turn that knowledge into actionable strategies for journalists. We train and empower journalists to take responsibility for demonstrating credibility and actively earning trust through transparency and engagement. Learn more about our work, vision and team. Subscribe to our Trust Tips newsletter. Follow us on Twitter, BlueSky and LinkedIn.
