The Lenfest Institute for Journalism today announced the next phase of the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship Program, building on what has become the largest AI fellowship program in American journalism. Since its launch in 2024 with AI engineering fellows in 11 major American news organizations, the program has demonstrated that embedded AI engineers can help local news organizations accelerate innovation, strengthen business sustainability, and responsibly adopt emerging technology.

The program will expand with a new $5 million commitment from Open AI, along with up to $5 million in software credits and engineering support. Open AI has doubled its previous support of the program. The Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship Program places full-time AI technologists into operating news organizations to drive business innovation in local journalism.

AI engineering fellows work alongside newsroom leaders, reporters, product teams, revenue staff, and executives to identify organization-specific challenges and build practical AI engineering solutions, along with safe, transparent, and ethical policies. Their work is designed to strengthen news organizations while preserving the human judgment, editorial integrity, expertise, and trust at the heart of local journalism.

“The most valuable lesson of the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship’s first two years is that responsible AI adoption is less about the technology and more about trust,” said Jim Friedlich, Lenfest Institute Executive Director and CEO. “The next phase is an opportunity for more news enterprises to intentionally experiment with AI under the highest editorial standards and with human news judgment at the forefront.”