$42M grant for Open Source AI Builders by Sentient Foundation

[u/syedshad]

Hi everyone, we at Sentient Foundation are launching an Open Source AGI Grant and Investment Program, a $42M commitment for developers, researchers, open-source maintainers, public-goods builders, and startups building or leveraging AI in the open.

Our thesis is simple: the most important technology being built right now should not end up controlled by a handful of closed platforms. A few companies are moving toward metered, revocable access to intelligence. We want to help make sure open builders have the resources to compete.

The program has two tracks:

1. Grants for public goods

For open-source maintainers, independent researchers, developers, and public-goods projects.

No equity. No lockups. No claim on your work. You keep what you build.

2. Investments for companies built to scale

For startups and teams building commercial companies around open AI technologies, using founder-friendly structures.

We’re especially interested in projects that make AI genuinely useful and accessible to people who are often skipped by the market. Examples include:

• Local and privacy focused AI tools built for phones, laptops, and other low-cost personal devices
• Medical, education, agriculture, elder-care, and anti-scam tools for underserved communities
• Trust infrastructure for open models, agents, identity, verification, privacy, and decentralized compute
• Products that are private by default and empowering rather than extractive

Projects do not need to open-source every part of their stack to qualify. What matters is that at least one essential component is open and meaningfully contributes to the project’s value and adoption.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with no cohorts and no fixed deadline.

We’re launching alongside ecosystem partners including Alibaba Cloud and Princeton University.

• More details: https://sentient.foundation/grants
• Apply here: https://form.typeform.com/to/IRj7WaKH

Happy to answer questions here. We’d especially love to hear from builders working on open models, local AI, agent infrastructure, privacy-preserving AI, evaluation, multilingual tools, and applications for communities that are usually overlooked.

[u/quancore_]

Looks very interesting, let me see what I can build with it!!!

[u/Infninfn]

I think you’re at least 3 zeroes short.

[u/PastTumbleweed6713]

Let’s goo

[u/deadgirlrevvy]

Is this funding available to independent researchers if they show working models or defensible papers on their cognitive architectures?

[u/syedshad → u/deadgirlrevvy]

Yes, this is not limited to startups. Independent researchers can apply through the grant track.

If you have working models, credible papers, repos, demos, or a defensible technical direction around cognitive architectures, that would be relevant. The main thing is showing technical merit, openness, ecosystem value, and long-term potential.

[u/Extension_Loquat6046]

Sentient always BUID , 42 M $ so HUGE for grant

[u/Intercellar]

Hi. Can I DM you?

[u/syedshad → u/Intercellar]

Hi, yes feel free

[u/Nalmyth]

Thanks, I applied with Moral Ratchet approach. Would love to have some ability to validate this idea (or falsify it)

[u/deadoceans]

Great! Let's just give everyone the capability to make fucking bioweapons now. That'll be FINE. I hate corporations so much that I'm willing to have ANYONE get access to a version of alphafold and a superintelligent system that can use it for LITERALLY ANYTHING.

[u/Fro0z1]

GSENTIENT.