Open Call for Proposals for Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Fellowships (2026–2027)

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The Pulitzer Center is now accepting applications for its fifth cohort (2026-2027) of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Accountability Fellowships.

AI coverage has changed a lot since the first cohort of the AI Accountability Fellowships in 2022. What was initially seen as a niche beat is now a staple. However, as different types of AI systems have been integrated by governments, companies, workplaces, homes, and more, the need for nuanced reporting that covers the real and human impact of these technologies by independent journalists has never been more important.

Through the AI Accountability Fellowships, the Pulitzer Center aims to support in-depth, high-impact reporting projects that document and explain the opportunities, harms, and regulatory and labor issues surrounding AI systems. The Fellowship program provides selected journalists with financial support, a community of peers, mentorship, and training to pursue in-depth reporting projects that interrogate how AI systems are funded, built, and deployed by corporations, governments, and other powerful actors.

The AI Accountability Fellowships have so far supported 35 journalists from five continents over four years. Previous Fellows reported on a range of in-depth stories: how data labellers may have unknowingly worked for the U.S. military; Big Tech’s playbook for building data centers; the flaws in Peru’s poverty-targeting algorithm that led to social program exclusion errors; how European companies export facial recognition technology to countries with weak regulatory frameworks; and more. Their reporting has prompted new legislation in Brazil; surfaced evidence used in lawsuits; and inspired student investigations in Indonesia and student poets to examine AI accountability.

The Pulitzer Center is recruiting eight to 10 journalists from around the world to report on the impacts of algorithmic and automated systems on their communities. We welcome projects on a broad range of issues across the AI supply chain. We recommend that applicants sign up for an upcoming AI Spotlight Series training or watch videos on our website (also available in Spanish and Portuguese). We encourage journalists from the Global South and from communities that are underrepresented in the media to apply.

For the first time, the Fellowship will also include funding, mentorship, and training to develop and execute an impact plan for each investigation to reach strategic audiences. This can look like building partnerships with content creators to reach online communities; creating a zine for a local library; or holding multistakeholder discussions with civil society, industry, and government officials.

Applications for the 2026-2027 AI Accountability Fellowships are now open. 

The deadline is July 12, 2026. 

Find more information here. Apply here.

Fellowship overview and requirements 

The 10-month-long Fellowship starts in September 2026. Journalists selected as AI Accountability Fellows will be provided up to $25,000 (up to $20,000 for reporting and $5,000 for engagement activities) to pursue their reporting projects. Funds can be used to pay for records requests, travel expenses, data analysis, and stipends, among other costs. In addition, the Fellows will have access to mentors from different fields and relevant training with a group of peers that will help strengthen their reporting projects.

Successful applicants will be expected to join a mandatory monthly meeting, 1.5-two hours long; contribute to at least one community call during the Fellowship; and engage with other Fellows in virtual meetings and on the community’s dedicated online platform. They will also be encouraged to attend a monthly virtual training session. 

Such collaborations and participation in training sessions and meetings are requirements of the Fellowship program. Working and learning with a diverse group of journalists from around the world can illuminate unforeseen connections among stories and strengthen everyone’s projects with new perspectives. If you are pursuing a good story but cannot commit to the requirements of a Fellowship, you can apply for an AI Reporting Grant.

We also require the sharing of methodologies and lessons learned so each story may serve as a blueprint for other newsrooms pursuing similar projects.

The AI Accountability Fellowship is a program under the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network. The Network launched in 2022 to expand and diversify the field of journalists reporting on AI and with AI in the public interest. It’s managed by Pulitzer Center Senior Editor Joanna S. Kao and part-time Editor Karol Ilagan, with the support of Executive Editor Marina Walker Guevara and the Pulitzer Center’s Editorial team.

Other programs supported by the AI Accountability Network include: 

• AI Reporting Grants, which support shorter-term, in-depth reporting projects that explore the impact of AI systems in communities around the world 
• The AI Spotlight Series, a free, online training series designed to equip reporters and editors with the knowledge and skills necessary to cover and shape coverage of AI and its profound influence on society. Explore the curriculum online in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
• The South to South AI Accountability CoLab, a program for civil society, academia, or researchers operating in Africa, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia that aims to strengthen the connection between reporting and civil society engagement in the Global South

The AI Accountability Network is funded with the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Humanity AI, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Luminate, Omidyar Network, Park Foundation, and individual donors and foundations who support our work more broadly.

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Joanna Kao
Senior Editor, Information & Artificial Intelligence

This message appeared in the May 29, 2026, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.