In February 2026, OpenAI announced a $7.5 million commitment to The Alignment Project, a global fund created by the UK AI Security Institute to support independent research on AI alignment and mitigations for safety and security risks. UK Government communications describe OpenAI’s contribution as £5.6m, consistent with currency conversion. The programme funds grants up to £1m.

When headlines say “AI alignment funding”, most people ask the same two questions:

1. Is this real money that will reach independent researchers?

2. Will it produce work that actually improves safety, not just more papers?

In February 2026, OpenAI announced a new commitment to The Alignment Project — a UK AI Security Institute (AISI) programme created to fund independent alignment research.

Here’s what’s been announced, what it supports, and why it matters for anyone working on AI governance, security, or the safe deployment of more capable systems.

The headline funding: $7.5M (and why UK sources cite £5.6m)

OpenAI’s own announcement states it is committing $7.5 million to The Alignment Project.

UK Government communications describing the same initiative cite £5.6 million from OpenAI, which aligns with the approximate GBP value of $7.5M at recent exchange rates.

The key point: this is not a vague “partnership” headline — it is a defined contribution into a grant-making programme.

What is The Alignment Project?

The Alignment Project is a global fund created by the UK AI Security Institute (UK AISI) to support work that helps ensure advanced AI systems:

• act as intended

• avoid harmful behaviours

• remain reliable and controllable as capabilities scale

The programme offers grants ranging from £50,000 to £1,000,000, and provides additional support such as dedicated compute credits through partner organisations.

Why this matters: independent alignment needs diversity (and time)

Frontier labs can do research that depends on access to advanced models and significant compute — but that isn’t the whole alignment problem.

Independent researchers often:

• test different assumptions and frameworks

• bring cross-disciplinary methods (policy, security engineering, behavioural science)

• challenge “lab consensus” with alternative approaches

A fund like The Alignment Project helps by creating space for exploratory work outside the incentives of product roadmaps.

What gets funded (and what tends to win)

Alignment is a broad label. What reviewers usually look for is work that is:

1) Actionable

Not just a conceptual argument — but a method, prototype, evaluation, or measurable mitigation.

2) Relevant to real safety and security risks

For example:

• controlling agentic behaviour

• robust oversight and monitoring

• security failures and misuse pathways

• evaluation frameworks and stress testing

3) Feasible

Clear milestones, evidence plan, and a team that can deliver.

The Alignment Project’s own published priorities and selection process emphasise feasibility, innovation, and actionability — which is useful guidance for applicants.

What does this mean for organisations (not just researchers)?

Even if you’re not applying for a grant, this matters because it will shape the ecosystem of tools and evidence that regulators, product teams, and governance boards use.

If you’re a research group

• Track future rounds and align your proposal to specific safety/security mitigations.

• Design evaluation plans that can be reproduced and adopted by others.

If you’re an AI/product leader

• Use funded outputs as inputs to your own governance programme.

• Treat results as “evidence”: update policies, red-team scripts, and monitoring based on what works.

If you’re in governance, risk or compliance

• Watch for evaluation methods that become de facto standards.

• Build your reporting around defensible concepts: oversight, controllability, and measurable mitigation.

Where Generation Digital helps

Funding is only one lever. Turning research into organisational practice requires operating models: governance, security processes, and adoption design.

Generation Digital helps teams:

• build AI governance that boards can trust

• scale AI safely (policies, controls, monitoring)

• translate research outputs into deployment guardrails

Summary

OpenAI has committed $7.5M to The Alignment Project, a UK AISI-backed fund for independent alignment research; UK Government communications describe OpenAI’s contribution as £5.6m. The programme funds grants of £50k–£1m and supports work that develops practical mitigations to safety and security risks from misaligned AI.

Next steps

1. Track The Alignment Project funding rounds and priority areas.

2. If you’re applying, propose measurable mitigations — not just theory.

3. If you’re deploying AI, turn research outputs into governance controls and red-team practice.

4. If you want support translating alignment work into operational guardrails, contact Generation Digital.

FAQs

Q1: What is AI alignment?
A: AI alignment is the field focused on ensuring AI systems reliably act in line with human intent and values, especially as they become more capable and autonomous.

Q2: How much funding did OpenAI commit to The Alignment Project?
A: OpenAI announced a $7.5M commitment. UK Government communications cite £5.6m, which is consistent with currency conversion.

Q3: What does The Alignment Project fund?
A: It funds independent projects developing mitigations for safety and security risks from misaligned AI, with grants typically ranging from £50k to £1m.

Q4: Why is independent alignment research important?
A: It broadens the space of ideas, enables cross-disciplinary approaches, and provides external validation that complements frontier lab research.

Q5: How can organisations use this research if they’re not grant recipients?
A: Use published evaluation methods and mitigations to strengthen governance, red teaming, monitoring, and policy decisions for real deployments.