Positive Social Uses of Technology
We promote thoughtful uses of technology, such as by advancing universal broadband and the bioeconomy, to improve people’s lives.
Plaintext Group
The Plaintext Group is a nonpartisan, technology innovation policy initiative working to strengthen U.S. leadership through the advancement of technological exploration and scientific discovery. Plaintext brings together technologists and policy professionals to translate complex technical concepts into comprehensible “plain text” for policymakers, researchers, philanthropies, and nonprofits. We aim to inform debate by producing novel, relevant, and considered research insights into today’s most important technology innovation policy issues, including AI research and development, semiconductor manufacturing, modernization of government, and more.
Learn moreSynthetic Biology
The BioFutures Program will accelerate the translation of bioeconomy research into public and economic benefits, building on Schmidt Futures’ core mission to bet early on a group of exceptional people making the world better, through solving hard problems in science and society. 10 years from now, the bioeconomy could be worth $4 trillion, and we want to ensure that its promise is realized to benefit humanity broadly.
Learn MoreConnectivity & Access
The Connectivity and Access program aims to promote shared prosperity by making high-speed internet universally accessible and affordable, and to use that increased accessibility to grow access to public benefits.
This program has two components:
Benefits Access seeks to improve the accessibility of U.S. government social safety net benefits that are enabled by the internet, especially to marginalized populations. We support product and tool development that improves access and equity in government service delivery, and convene a network of cross-sector stakeholders in the social safety net ecosystem to develop state and federal policy recommendations that drive structural improvements.
AI2050
AI2050 will support exceptional people working on key opportunities and hard problems that are critical to get right for society to benefit from artificial intelligence.
Through this initiative, awards will be made to support work conducted by researchers from across the globe and at various stages in their careers. These awards will primarily aim to enable and encourage these AI2050 Fellows to undertake bold and ambitious work, often multi-disciplinary, that is typically hard to fund but critical to get right for society to benefit from AI.
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Work we’re doing for society
We imagine a future in which everyone can benefit from the progress of the digital age. We bet on innovators, sometimes from a young age and for life, and build teams promoting thoughtful uses of technology and shared prosperity.
