According to the World Economic Forum, the top three sought-after skills for the US workforce by 2030 will be AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy. But despite the rising demand for AI skills, only half of workers around the world have access to adequate AI training opportunities today.

The $75M Google.org AI Opportunity Fund for the United States aims to provide essential AI skills training to more than one million Americans. The fund supports workforce development and education organizations to help rural and underserved workers, public sector employees, students, educators, small businesses and nonprofits.

With support from the Google.org AI Opportunity Fund, Goodwill provides free, hands-on trainings through the Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator — from basic digital awareness to advanced career certificates — that now include GenAI with Google AI Essentials. To date, the Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator has helped more than 400,000 people gain employment or advancement.

Jeslyn Miller runs her own business, a fashion brand called Unique and Lovely, alongside her full-time job. Recognizing the need for efficiency amidst a very full plate, Jeslyn enrolled in the Goodwill Digital Career Accelerator, which offers Google’s AI Essentials training. Equipped with new AI skills, Jeslyn transformed her business’ operations. She now uses GenAI to quickly write product descriptions, brainstorm compelling blog ideas and create engaging social media captions.

Jeslyn’s adoption of GenAI yielded immediate, measurable results: Unique and Lovely has seen 6,000 more content impressions in just one month. Jeslyn's enhanced efficiency allows her to dedicate more time to other important areas of her business, showcasing the impact accessible AI training can have for small business growth.

In a world where AI can now generate code, we still need highly-skilled human programmers who can solve problems with computation and make ethical decisions about the systems that we create. As advances in technology open up new ways to tackle challenges, programming skills can lead to opportunity. When kids learn to code at a young age, they're getting a deeper understanding of the tech that's becoming ever more ubiquitous in our lives.

Blockly started in 2012 as a passion project by a Google engineer who felt strongly about block-based coding for learning. Based on enthusiasm from the computer science education community, Google has since heavily invested in the open-source product creating a robust, scalable, easy-to-use platform for users around the world. With its visual-first approach, Blockly changes the way coding is taught by making creativity the epicenter of the experience and giving users the freedom to explore without being held up by syntax barriers.

Blockly is the foundation for some of the largest block-based coding platforms around the world, such as Scratch and Code.org. Today, millions of young people use Scratch to create interactive stories, games and animations, and learn crucial skills like creative thinking, systematic reasoning and collaboration. Scratch recently reached its one billionth project, with children creating more than 500,000 new projects every day.

Google.org created the $5M Blockly Accessibility Fund to further expand inclusive computer science education efforts by funding organizations and researchers developing accessible block-based coding tools and resources.

As the Head of Product at the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, Lucy Gill is driven by the goal of inspiring every child's best digital future, including those with disabilities. Block-based coding is used by millions of children to code the micro:bit, a pocket-sized, programmable computer that brings computing to life in the real world.

With support from the Blockly Accessibility Fund, her team has been able to gather user feedback from experts, teachers and students to improve keyboard navigation and screen reader support in platforms that use Blockly. This accessibility work ensures that students with dexterity difficulties and visual impairments are not just consumers of technology, but are empowered to become creators and contribute to the digital world.

“The Blockly Accessibility Fund has been a game changer. It enabled our launch of keyboard controls for micro:bit programming — a major milestone for children with fine motor challenges. It also lays the groundwork for screen reader support, which is vital for millions of children with visual impairments, and for a future where all Blockly platforms adopt these accessibility features. At the Micro:bit Educational Foundation, we’re proud to be making block-based coding more inclusive.”

-Lucy Gill, Head of Product, Micro:bit Educational Foundation

Cotton farming supports the livelihoods of more than 100 million people around the world, yet crop productivity is threatened by pests, diseases and erratic weather. In India alone, more than six million rural households depend on farming cotton crops, but every year avoidable pest damage can wipe out up to 50% of annual crop yield.

Google.org gave $2M in funding and provided pro bono technical support through nine Google.org Fellows working full-time for six months to help Wadhwani AI develop CottonAce, an AI-powered app that provides farmers real-time advice on crop resilience and pest management.

CottonAce’s AI-powered early warning system helps farmers protect their crops by determining the right time to spray pesticides through immediate, localized advice. Farmers can upload photos of pests and then the AI system determines the level of infestation by identifying and counting the number of pests in the photo so that it can generate actionable agriculture advice for the farmer.

Since CottonAce’s release, farmer profits have increased by 20% and pesticide usage has decreased by 25%. Recently, the Government of India launched the National Pest Surveillance System (NPSS) to track pests across 50 crops. The NPSS integrates Wadhwani’s CottonAce AI models and the technology is now rolling out with ten more staple crops, including rice, wheat and corn — mitigating the threat of hunger and protecting the livelihoods of millions of people by preserving critical crops.

Jairam, a seasoned cotton farmer in the Nagaur District of Rajasthan, India, once faced a relentless threat to his crop: the pink bollworm. These infestations caused his crop yield to plummet by over 30% and the quality of his cotton suffered too, threatening his livelihood. Once equipped with Wadhwani AI’s CottonAce app and pheromone traps, Jairam gained access to timely alerts and precise pesticide recommendations. This ensured he applied the right treatment at the right time, minimizing waste and maximizing impact.

As a result, Jairam significantly cut his expenses. More importantly, his cotton production soared by over 40%. The pink bollworm still poses a threat, but now Jairam faces it armed with knowledge and technology.

Across the globe, wildfires are getting more intense and fire seasons are lasting longer. Projections show a 33% rise in wildfires by 2050, leading to over 300,000 annual deaths from smoke exposure and billions in damages. A key solution in combating this global crisis lies in early fire detection. While traditional satellite imagery is helpful, the data often isn't real-time and lacks precision, meaning fires are frequently detected only after they've grown dangerously large.

In 2024, Google.org launched a new funding approach — the AI Collaborative: Wildfires — which integrates funding with cutting-edge science, emerging technology and on-the-ground applications. The Collaborative brings together nonprofits, academic experts, government agencies and companies that are tackling wildfires to empower people and communities with AI-driven solutions for better wildfire management.

Google.org has committed over $27M to this Collaborative, including $13M specifically for a new kind of wildfire detection technology, FireSat. FireSat is a satellite program led by the global nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance in collaboration with Muon Space, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, wildfire authorities, Google Research and others.

FireSat is a technology that distinguishes itself from traditional wildfire imagery by collecting vast, high-quality data. Applying AI to the FireSat dataset can provide near real-time detection of wildfires with a low false positive rate, a major advancement over existing methods. The satellite constellation will be able to spot blazes globally, as small as 5x5 meters within 20 minutes, giving first responders a crucial advantage for early intervention.

Once fully in orbit, FireSat will equip first responders with the tools they need to more accurately identify and track wildfires, quantify wildfire risk, and ultimately reduce economic, humanitarian and environmental damage globally.

“Having served for decades as a line firefighter and later as California's state fire marshal, I've seen firsthand the critical information gaps we face. FireSat is a transformational, leapfrog technology for the global firefighting community. Today, we have only rudimentary methods of assessing fires in real time. FireSat will generate an unprecedented amount of high-quality data that, with the help of AI, can better detect, manage and predict fires to inform mitigation strategies, pre-position resources and warn communities at risk.”

-Kate Dargan Marquis, Retired California State Fire Marshal; Senior Advisor,
Wildfire Resilience Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Children today are growing up with technology, not growing into it like previous generations. Kids can find themselves in online situations that leave them vulnerable and have lasting consequences on their safety and well-being.

Google’s Be Internet Awesome is a free online program that equips children around the world with the knowledge and skills to be safe and responsible online.

Since 2018, Google.org has provided support to 25 organizations in more than 40 EMEA countries to help children stay safe online through campaigns, training and workshops. Through local nonprofits, the Be Internet Awesome curriculum is tailored to local languages and cultural nuances to adapt to different contexts. The program has also been integrated into national curricula in five European countries, making digital safety a standard part of their educational system.

Be Internet Awesome has reached an estimated five million children, teachers and caregivers across Europe. An analysis showed that in Central Eastern Europe, 90% of students found the lessons beneficial, and 88% reported an increased knowledge of how to be safe online. In the UK, children were twice as likely to show an improved understanding of internet safety compared to those who hadn't participated in the lessons.

Meris Gatto, a teacher at I.C. Volpago del Montello in Italy, has seen firsthand the positive impact of Google's Be Internet Awesome program. For five years now, Meris and her colleagues have used the curriculum to empower students with safer and more conscious internet use.

Be Internet Awesome’s emphasis on the real-world consequences of online interactions has been particularly impactful for students. "The goal is to foster empathy in children and step in where adults may struggle to offer the right answers," Meris explains. Her school's long-term commitment, supported by Google.org grantee Fondazione Mondo Digitale, shows how effective Be Internet Awesome’s approach has proven to be.

Floods are the most common and deadliest of natural disasters, causing thousands of fatalities, disrupting millions of lives and causing significant financial damage globally each year — and their occurrence has more than doubled since 2000.

Google Research has developed and applied AI models to advance the field of flood forecasting as part of our efforts to bring AI-based early warnings for natural disasters to communities around the world. Google Flood Hub is a publicly available, AI-powered platform that provides early flood warnings and forecasts for riverine flooding. Flood Hub provides users with locally relevant flood data and flood forecasts up to seven days in advance so they can take timely action.

Google.org is supporting on-the-ground aid organizations that are using Google’s flood forecasting technologies to identify communities most in need before they are impacted by floods. This has resulted in multiple AI-powered cash relief initiatives in Africa and Asia that have enabled communities to receive aid five to seven days before peak flooding. This advance relief empowers families to secure food and protect assets, with research showing it enhances preparedness and significantly reduces post-disaster recovery costs.

Most recently, Google.org gave funding to GiveDirectly to help deliver anticipatory and post-flood cash transfers to communities at risk of flooding in Nigeria’s Kogi State. GiveDirectly used Google’s AI-powered flood prediction technologies alongside their anticipatory action systems to send village-specific alerts and initiate cash transfers.

Early successes from these ongoing pilot programs demonstrate that anticipatory aid empowered families to stockpile food and medicine, harvest crops, purchase essential supplies, find shelter and protect belongings before major floods hit.

GiveDirectly enrolled 30,000 people across flood-prone areas in Nigeria and provided the most-at-risk households with their first cash payments before the peak of the flooding.

One recipient, Dr. Felix Akor, used the flexible funds to act immediately. He was able to relocate his family to higher ground, secure transportation for his children to keep attending school and purchase medicine to treat waterborne illnesses. By providing flexible funds directly to individuals and families before a disaster strikes, people can prepare, mitigate risk and recover with dignity.

Adi Musa, another GiveDirectly emergency cash transfer recipient, is a smallholder farmer and mother who was able to buy rice seeds for the next planting season with the cash assistance. When communities are given the freedom to decide how to use emergency funds they not only address immediate needs, but also make more strategic choices to strengthen their own resilience and future prosperity.