The Bezos Earth Fund has announced a game-changing $30 million investment to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help fight climate change, loss of biodiversity, and food insecurity. This big round of funding is part of the AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge. It gives up to $2 million each to 15 teams from around the world. These teams are working on AI solutions like figuring out how to decode endangered bird songs. They are also automating the identification of plant species and using AI to keep an eye on coral reefs from the Pacific to Africa.
This multi-year project, which started in 2024, supports cutting-edge AI applications that aim to speed up progress in the environment. The most recent awards build on an earlier phase that gave rise to new ideas. These ideas look into AI’s huge potential for making the world more sustainable. The Nature Conservancy, Yale University, and The Wildlife Conservation Society are some of the top organizations that have won awards. This shows how well scientists, technologists, and environmental experts can work together.
Lauren Sánchez Bezos, the Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund, said that AI is a powerful tool for rethinking how we grow food, protect wildlife, and make clean energy. Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki, the Director of AI, talked about the company’s promise to make sure that AI development is responsible. It is based on science and aims to have a positive effect on the planet.
The AI Grand Challenge has support from big tech companies like Amazon Web Services, Google.org, Microsoft Research, and NVIDIA Corporation. It offers mentorship, tools, and cloud computing resources. This support helps ideas grow from concept to real-world impact. For the next few years, these funded projects will test, improve, and show measurable progress in environmental action. This will show how AI can be a good thing for the whole world.
This investment is another big step toward the Bezos Earth Fund’s goal of using new technologies to protect nature and fight climate change. The fund plans to give up to $100 million to this project. This will help AI reach its full potential for a sustainable future.
