OpenAI’s AI & Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026

Deadline: October 6, 2026

Applications are open for the OpenAI’s AI & Teen Development Research Grant Program 2026. OpenAI is committing $5 million to support independent research on how generative AI affects the lives and development of young people ages 13–17.

Generative AI is becoming part of how teens learn, create, and seek advice. Its effects are likely to be nuanced. They may depend on what teens use AI for, how they engage with it, their individual circumstances, and the support available from families, schools, communities, and technology providers.

They want to build a stronger evidence base about the way teens use AI, as well as the impacts of AI on their lives, to inform development of AI products for teens and to help answer major questions facing policymakers and regulators. For example, they aim to deepen industry-wide understanding of the nuances across age and context, efficacy of safeguards and interventions, and the ways that evidence can inform implementation and evaluation. This program will fund independent research into the opportunities and challenges associated with AI use during adolescence, with a particular focus on teens’ social and emotional development.

Research Priorities

They encourage submissions that relate to one or more of the following topics

Emotional development and well-being: Research on emotion regulation, resilience, identity, agency, self-esteem, and social connection.

Social development and relationships: Research on friendships, family relationships, belonging, communication, empathy, social skills, and the relationship between AI and human connection.

Patterns, contexts, and variance across demographics: Research on how outcomes vary by time spent, type and purpose of use, age, culture, language, socioeconomic circumstances, and other individual or contextual factors.

Mitigations, age-appropriate design, and policy approaches: Research evaluating safeguards, product interventions, AI literacy, parental or educator support, and healthy-use practices.

Grant

They will award individual research grants up to $1 million and totaling up to $5 million.

Eligibility

Must be 18 or older;

Must be affiliated with a research institution or organization, and/or significant experience relevant to child or adolescent development, well-being, human-computer interaction, AI impacts, or a closely related field;

They are seeking to fund research rather than for-profit initiatives, so we will not prioritize for profit organizations at this time.

Review Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on

Scientific rigor: The strength and appropriateness of the research design and analysis

Relevance: Examination of a topic relevant to current public discourse on AI

Proposal quality: The clarity, focus, and coherence of the application

Actionability: The potential to translate findings into guidance for models, products, safeguards, regulatory approaches, or future research

Ethics and safeguarding: The adequacy of protections for minors and other participants

Feasibility: Whether the project can be completed with the proposed resources and timeline

Team expertise: The team’s ability to conduct the proposed work responsibly

Inclusion and generalizability: Attention to diverse populations, contexts, cultures, and experiences

Complementarity: The extent to which the work adds to existing evidence and complements OpenAI’s internal research agenda

Independence and credibility: The project’s ability to produce trustworthy findings regardless of whether those findings are favorable to providers of AI products

Application

Applications should be formatted as a single-spaced Google doc. Applicants should submit

Project summary: A brief overview of the proposed research and its expected contribution, less than one page.

Research proposal: No more than three pages, excluding references, addressing

Research questions

Relevant prior research

Proposed methods and analysis

Study population and recruitment strategy, including evidence of feasibility or access

Expected outputs

Potential limitations

Relevance to the program’s goals

Project plan and timeline: Key activities, milestones, and expected completion date.

Budget and budget justification: Requested funding, major cost categories, and any other committed sources of support.

Project dependencies: An explanation of requirements that must be met for the research to be carried out and risks that might endanger the project’s fruition.

Ethics and safeguarding statement: Required for any research involving minors, sensitive information, or potentially vulnerable populations. Where relevant, proposals should explicitly reference any regulation governing research with teens and compliance strategy.

Team information: Short CVs or bios for the principal investigator and key team members.

Independence and conflicts disclosure: Relevant financial relationships, industry funding, or other potential conflicts of interest.

Applications must be submitted in English. Research itself may be conducted in any language.

Click here to apply

For more information, visit OpenAI’s AI & Teen Development Research Grant.