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AI and Mental Health Research Grants - OpenAI
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This OpenAI grant announcement is relevant to AI safety discussions around responsible deployment of AI in high-stakes domains like mental health, where errors or misuse could cause serious harm to vulnerable individuals.
Metadata
Importance: 35/100press releasenews
Summary
OpenAI announced a grant program funding research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and mental health, supporting projects exploring how AI tools can assist in mental health diagnosis, treatment, and support. The initiative reflects OpenAI's broader effort to demonstrate beneficial AI applications while also raising considerations about safety and ethics in sensitive healthcare contexts.
Key Points
- •OpenAI is funding research grants specifically targeting AI applications in mental health care and support
- •The program aims to explore how AI can improve access to and quality of mental health services
- •Grants signal OpenAI's strategic interest in demonstrating socially beneficial uses of AI technology
- •The initiative raises important questions about AI safety, bias, and ethical deployment in vulnerable population contexts
- •Represents an intersection of AI capabilities deployment with high-stakes real-world health outcomes
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Foundation | Organization | 87.0 |
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Funding grants for new research into AI and mental health \| OpenAI
December 1, 2025
[Company](https://openai.com/news/company-announcements/) [Safety](https://openai.com/news/safety-alignment/)
# Funding grants for new research into AI and mental health
Introducing a new program to award up to $2 million to support independent safety and well-being research.
[Apply now(opens in a new window)](https://openai.smapply.org/prog/openais_ai_and_mental_health_grant_program/)
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##### Update January 28, 2026:
Grant applications are now closed. We were excited and encouraged to receive more than 1,000 high-quality entries from both established and emerging researchers from around the world, making this one of our largest calls for research grants to date. Each submission was carefully reviewed by our team of experts, and we have notified all applicants whose proposals are being funded. The depth and creativity of the proposals reflect the growing momentum in this field, and given the high volume of interest in the program we are actively exploring ways to expand and build on this work in the future.
We’re announcing a call for applications to fund research proposals that explore the intersection of AI and mental health. As AI becomes more capable and ubiquitous, we know that people will increasingly use it in more personal areas of their lives.
We continue to strengthen how our models recognize and respond to signs of mental and emotional distress. Working closely with leading experts, we’ve [trained our models](https://openai.com/index/strengthening-chatgpt-responses-in-sensitive-conversations/) to respond more appropriately during sensitive conversations and have shared detailed updates for how those improvements are performing. While we’ve made meaningful progress on our own models and interventions, this remains an emerging area of research across the industry.
As part of our broader safety investments, we are opening a call for research submissions to support independent researchers outside of OpenAI, helping to spark new ideas, deepen understanding, and accelerate innovation across the ecosystem. These grants are designed to support foundational work that strengthens both our own safety efforts, and the wider field.
We’ve done research in some of these areas including [Investigating Affective Use and Emotional Well-being on ChatGPT(opens in a new window)](https://cdn.openai.com/papers/15987609-5f71-433c-9972-e91131f399a1/openai-affective-use-study.pdf) and [Healthbench](https://openai.com/index/healthbench/), and are focused on deepening our understanding to inform our safety and well-being work.
We believe that continuing to support independent research on AI and mental health will help improve our collective understanding of this emerging field and help fulfill our mission to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity.
## What we’re funding
We're seeking research project proposals that deepen our understanding of the
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