Over the past five years, Google.org has contributed more than $200 million to AI for social good initiatives addressing pressing global challenges like hunger and public health, among others. Building on these efforts, last September we introduced AI Collaboratives, a new funding approach designed to unite public, private and nonprofit organizations, and researchers, to create AI-powered solutions to help people around the world.

Today, we’re sharing more about our first two focus areas for AI Collaboratives: Wildfires and Food Security. Our experience funding AI-powered solutions, extensive research on AI to help address some of humanity’s biggest challenges and engagement with Google Research have shown us that both are areas where AI can be especially helpful. Here’s an update on this work so far.

AI Collaborative: Wildfires

Wildfires are a global crisis, claiming more than 300,000 lives due to smoke exposure annually and causing billions of dollars in economic damage. The AI Collaborative: Wildfires is a strategic initiative by Google.org bringing together leading nonprofits, academic institutions, government agencies and companies to help people and communities better manage fires by using AI. To date, Google.org has contributed more than $27 million to the AI Collaborative: Wildfires.

Google.org has convened more than 15 organizations, including Earth Fire Alliance and Moore Foundation, to help in this important effort. By coordinating funding and integrating cutting-edge science, emerging technology and on-the-ground applications, we can provide collaborators with the tools they need to identify and track wildfires in near real time; quantify wildfire risk; shift more acreage to beneficial fires; and ultimately reduce the damage caused by catastrophic wildfires.

AI Collaborative: Food Security

Nearly one-third of the world’s population faces moderate or severe food insecurity due to extreme weather, conflict and economic shocks. The AI Collaborative: Food Security will strengthen the resilience of global food systems and improve food security for the world’s most vulnerable populations through AI technologies, collaborative research, data-sharing and coordinated action. To date, 10 organizations have joined us in this effort, and we’ll share more updates soon.

The power of collaboration

AI Collaboratives are rooted in the idea that AI’s potential lies not just in the technology itself, but also in partnerships that make its responsible application possible. By addressing urgent challenges like wildfires and food insecurity, our hope is that these Collaboratives create a foundation for AI to make meaningful societal contributions for years to come.