OpenAI will support global policy research to expand economic opportunities and strengthen social resilience as artificial intelligence (AI) advances. In Korea, Yonsei University was selected as a research institution.
OpenAI said on the 18th it will support a total of 14 research and pilot projects in the United States, the European Union (EU), Brazil, Singapore, and Korea. It will provide a total of $1 million in research funding for all projects and up to $1 million in OpenAI API credits.
The selected projects broadly address two themes: "how AI can expand economic opportunity" and "how society can build resilience as AI capabilities advance." In the economic opportunity area, researchers will study ways for workers, corporations, and communities to broadly share the productivity gains and economic benefits that AI will bring. In the social resilience area, they will examine AI safety, cross-border information sharing, and responsible AI use in public policy.
In Korea, Yonsei University will conduct research under the theme "democratic accountability using AI." Using AI to analyze National Assembly transcripts, the project will assess how faithfully the National Assembly scrutinizes and oversees the government. Multiple researchers will independently verify AI-derived analyses to ensure reliability.
The supported projects include not only research reports and policy models but also prototypes, datasets, and evaluation framework development that can be tested in the field. More than 400 individuals and organizations worldwide submitted proposals to this call. The selected institutions will closely review the feasibility of their proposed policies, the expense, and responsible implementation plans.
This initiative follows OpenAI's "Industrial Policy for the Intelligence Age," released in June. At the time, OpenAI said it would support external organizations that operate independently from the company in testing policy ideas and developing new alternatives to spread the benefits of advanced AI across society.
OpenAI said that as AI use rapidly expands, new applications and policy responses aligned with technological progress are needed. In particular, it holds that AI use should be decided not only by technology corporations but also through democratic public deliberation. The selected projects will run for the next six months, and the research findings will be released in 2027.
Lee Sang-hyun, OpenAI's head of public affairs for the Asia-Pacific region, said, "We hope these research findings will help governments and societies design policies suited to local conditions and broaden public discussion on economic opportunity and social resilience in the AI era," adding, "We expect Yonsei University's research to serve as a responsible AI use case that contributes to the National Assembly and the development of Korean democracy."