Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services (Open Call)
Global Open Call for proposals
Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services (Open Call)
Global Open Call for proposals
Cities Deliver is hosted and managed by RFCC and funded by The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI Foundation
To improve how cities deliver public services to the people who need them most.
Nearly half of the world’s population lives in cities. Public services shape those residents’ everyday lives. They affect whether they can get health care, find meaningful work, live safely, and have a voice in local decisions. City governments and their partners are on the front lines of delivering these public services. Artificial intelligence now offers new ways to meet these needs. AI can help residents access services, anticipate problems before they become crises, and respond to resident needs more effectively. Putting these capabilities to work requires solutions built around residents’ needs and developed in partnership with city governments.
The Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI Foundation are committing $50 million to Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services to support this work. The initiative will provide grants of $500,000 to $2 million to organizations working with city governments to improve public services through AI, especially for underserved communities. Together, these projects will aim to reach up to 100 million city residents worldwide.
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Frequently Asked Questions →
Focus Areas
We are seeking proposals that improve access to and quality of public services in vulnerable or underserved communities in the following focus areas:
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Public health
Solutions that extend the reach and readiness of public health systems, from frontline care and disease surveillance to population-scale prevention. Includes healthcare, disability services, food access, and nutrition. -
Economic mobility
Solutions use AI to connect unemployed and underemployed residents to income, skills, and benefits. Includes AI-enabled benefits enrollment, career navigation and skills-based hiring, and employer-aligned training. -
Environmental resilience
Solutions that help cities forecast, withstand, and recover from environmental shocks, protecting both people and the infrastructure they depend on. Includes public safety and emergency services, energy and grid infrastructure, and land management in communities at risk. -
Civic engagement
Solutions that help city governments reach residents proactively and respond faster, from two-way service channels to participatory decision-making. Includes digital access and connectivity, court services, and permitting and regulatory processes. Excludes projects related to voting or elections.
Funding Tracks
There are two tracks of funding. Every solution must include a meaningful frontier AI component, meaning recent generative AI models used to complete complex tasks. For every proposal, applicants must select a track to apply into:
Application Process and Timeline
- October 14, 2026 – Call for proposals goes live.
- November 29, 2026 (DEADLINE) – Eligibility Screening, Round 1 Proposals and short video due at 11:59 pm U.S. Eastern Time.
- December 2026 – Applicants are notified if advancing to next step (interviews) or not.
- January 2027 – Interviews for applicants that have advanced to this step.
- February 2027 – Applicants are notified if advancing to next step (Round 2 Proposal) or not.
- March 1, 2027 (DEADLINE) – Round 2 proposals due March 1, 2027 at 11:59pm U.S. Eastern Time.
- April 2027 – Applicants are notified if selected for support or not.
Helpful Resources
FAQs →
If the FAQs and Terms and Conditions conflict, the Terms and Conditions govern.
Please submit any questions about the call for proposals by October 31, 2026 at 11:59pm U.S. Eastern Time to citiesdeliver@rockfound.org. Revised FAQs based on applicant questions will be available on November 4, 2026.
Please note: this is an organizational award, not an individual fellowship. Applications must be submitted by an eligible organization, and the individual completing the forms must be authorized to submit on that organization’s behalf.
