The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI Foundation on October 14, 2026 launched Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services, a $50 million initiative that will award grants of $500,000 to $2 million to organizations working with city governments to improve public services through artificial intelligence.
Through a global open call, the initiative will identify and support eligible organizations partnering with city governments on projects across public health, economic mobility, environmental resilience, and civic engagement. The funded projects will aim to reach up to 100 million city residents worldwide, according to the announcement. Applications opened October 14, 2026 and close November 29, 2026.
Two Grant Tracks and 24-Month Terms
The initiative’s call for proposals sets two application tracks. Seed grants of $500,000 to under $1 million support early concepts ready for a first city pilot, funding work to refine the idea with city partners and to build, test, and pilot a prototype. Scale grants of $1 million to $2 million support solutions already piloted in a city with early results, funding expansion within that city or extension to another city.
All grants run 24 months, with 50 percent disbursed at the start and 50 percent upon a documented mid-term milestone. Grants do not guarantee follow-on funding, and applicants are expected to achieve their intended project goals within the 24-month period. Cities Deliver is managed by RF Catalytic Capital, an affiliate of The Rockefeller Foundation.
Grantees also receive a facilitated peer-learning cohort with webinars and mentorship, occasional AI product and engineering support subject to capacity, access to both foundations’ networks of city leaders, funders, and technical partners, and an invitation to a global or regional convening.
Focus Areas, Eligibility, and Selection Criteria
Public health proposals cover frontline care, disease surveillance, disability services, food access, and nutrition. Economic mobility proposals connect unemployed and underemployed residents to income, skills, and benefits, including through benefits enrollment, career navigation, skills-based hiring, and employer-aligned training. Environmental resilience proposals address public safety and emergency services, energy and grid infrastructure, and land management in communities at risk. Civic engagement proposals cover digital access and connectivity, court services, and permitting and regulatory processes; projects related to voting or elections are excluded.
Every project must be led by an eligible organization, include a city government partner committed to collaborating, and serve a charitable purpose benefiting underserved, poor, or distressed communities or social welfare. Eligible lead organizations are nonprofits, including university labs and fiscally sponsored organizations, and public benefit corporations. For-profit companies may qualify only in limited cases, where the project is charitable and the company receives no more than an incidental benefit to its business. Governments may not apply directly, and the award is an organizational one rather than an individual fellowship.
Each solution must include a meaningful frontier AI component, using recent AI models to complete complex tasks, and may combine those capabilities with existing city tools and systems. Applicants may choose the AI models and products that best meet their needs, with no requirement or preference to use OpenAI technology.
The call for proposals states that it seeks projects that respond to credible demand from city government partners and the communities they serve; start with a significant problem the city has prioritized; make frontier AI capabilities core to the solution; demonstrate readiness to integrate technology into public-sector settings; build for sustainability through follow-on funding, city capacity, and integration with government systems; act responsibly in building and managing AI; and propose a clear learning agenda covering evaluation, user feedback, and a path to social impact.
From a 2023 Convening to Early City Projects
Cities Deliver builds on a 2023 convening organized by The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI that brought together more than 40 civic leaders from six continents alongside academic, philanthropic, and nonprofit partners. Participants highlighted the need for talent, tools, and resources to apply AI responsibly, and The Rockefeller Foundation subsequently supported early projects in Cali, Colombia; Cape Town, South Africa; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In its own announcement, OpenAI Foundation described those projects: in Cali, Dengue.AI forecasts outbreaks to help public health officials target prevention efforts; in Cape Town, an AI-powered messaging platform supports resident engagement with local government; and in Rio, a WhatsApp chatbot connects flood alerts and residents’ reports with the city’s emergency response systems. The Rockefeller Foundation plans follow-on grants to several partners from these early projects, including expanding Rio’s flood-alert system to more residents and additional extreme weather events, extending Dengue.AI’s outbreak forecasting from Cali to Cartagena, and growing the reach of Cape Town’s resident-engagement platform.
“Over the past three years, we’ve seen what happens when city leaders, researchers, and local innovators build with AI around real problems,” said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “Cities Deliver takes what’s working in Cali, Cape Town, Rio, and elsewhere and opens it up to institutions everywhere, so more cities can benefit from the same kind of partnership.”
Anna Makanju, Head of Civil Society and Philanthropy at OpenAI Foundation, said AI can help organizations working alongside cities reach residents faster, anticipate problems earlier, and make public services more responsive, and that the partnership pairs the potential of AI with deep local expertise. OpenAI Foundation placed the initiative within its Civil Society and Philanthropy program, describing it as extending earlier efforts including the People-First AI Fund, weather and crop-disease forecasting for smallholder farmers, and voice-language work.
The announcement also carried statements from the mayors of the three early-project cities, including Cali Mayor Alejandro Eder, who said the Dengue AI tool helps the city anticipate dengue outbreaks up to three weeks in advance.
The announcement cites UN 2025 estimates that 45 percent of the world’s 8.2 billion people live in cities, and states that city governments face significant barriers to adopting AI, including high implementation costs and uncertainty around data protection.
Application Process and Timeline
Round 1 proposals, which include an eligibility screen and a short video, are due November 29, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time. Applicants will be notified in December 2026 whether they are advancing to interviews, scheduled for January 2027. Notifications on advancement to the Round 2 stage follow in February 2027, with Round 2 proposals due March 1, 2027. Applicants will be notified in April 2027 whether they have been selected for support.
Questions about the call for proposals are due by October 31, 2026, and revised FAQs based on applicant questions will be posted November 4, 2026.
Credit: Source link
