The Bezos Earth Fund is rolling out the first phase of a $100 million grant initiative to explore how artificial intelligence can improve efforts to fight climate change and boost biodiversity.
The nonprofit funded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced 24 finalists for its AI Grand Challenge for Climate and Nature that will receive $50,000 each to test their ideas. In the second phase, to be announced later this year, up to 15 recipients will receive $2 million each to scale up their ideas over two years.
The proposals include efforts to decarbonize the electrical grid, fight illegal fishing, turn food waste into reusable proteins, protect biodiversity and optimize the grid for renewable energy deployment.
“Climate change and biodiversity loss are among the most pressing challenges of our time, and AI has the potential to significantly accelerate our response,” said Amen Ra Mashariki, director of AI and data strategies at the Bezos Earth Fund, in a statement.
