OpenAI is committing up to $2 million in grants to study what AI does to mental health, including potentially its own products.
The company announced a grant program that will fund research into real-world risks, benefits, and applications at the intersection of artificial intelligence and mental health. The stated goals are safety and well-being. OpenAI has not disclosed how many grants it will award, what individual award sizes look like, or which institutions are eligible to apply.
The research gap is real: AI chatbots are deployed to millions of users, but the science on their psychological effects is limited. The structural problem is that companies with the most at stake are now funding research into what their own products might be doing to people. This comes as AI companies face mounting scrutiny over chatbots and vulnerable users, including high-profile cases involving companionship apps and teenagers.
For context: $2 million wouldn't cover a single mid-size clinical trial.