Funding grants for new research into AI and teen development

Funding grants for new research into AI and teen development | OpenAI

September 8, 2026

Funding grants for new research into AI and teen development

OpenAI is committing $5 million to support independent research on how generative AI affects the lives and development of young people ages 13–17.

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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.

We 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, we 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.

What we’re funding

We welcome proposals that can deepen understanding and generate evidence relevant to current and emerging discourse, including:

• How teens use generative AI and how different patterns of use relate to developmental outcomes
• Potential impacts of AI use in teens’ lives
• The individual, social, cultural, and technical factors that shape the effects of AI in teens’ lives
• Technical interventions, safeguards, and design choices that can increase benefits or keep teens safer
• How effects may differ across ages, developmental stages, populations, cultures, languages, and socioeconomic contexts

We welcome interdisciplinary research involving fields such as child and adolescent development, psychology, public health, human-computer interaction, communication, sociology, anthropology, data science, and AI safety. We encourage proposals from any country, and will prioritize those from countries with significant AI adoption.

Qualitative, quantitative, experimental, observational, theoretical, participatory, and mixed-methods approaches are all eligible. Research involving teens in the design or interpretation of studies is welcome but not required.

Research priorities

We 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.

Research involving minors

Research involving minors requires particular attention to informed consent and assent, privacy, safeguarding, data security, and the possibility that participation may expose or generate sensitive information.

Applicants proposing research involving minors must explain:

• The relevant institutional or independent ethics-review process
• How informed consent and age-appropriate assent will be handled
• How participants’ privacy and data will be protected
• How researchers will respond to disclosures of harm or imminent risk
• Whether the project involves sensitive personal, behavioral, or mental-health information
• What relevant child-development, clinical, or safeguarding expertise the research team possesses
• Parental consent, where appropriate

Collecting sensitive information does not automatically make a project ineligible. However, such projects may require additional ethical review, expertise, safeguards, and time.

Application requirements

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.

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:...