Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, has awarded a $1 million grant to Karya, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing AI-driven learning and earning opportunities to low-income communities worldwide. This grant will support Karya in developing a digital skilling pathway and a multilingual, generative AI-powered chatbot to assist workers with digital tasks. The initiative aims to empower individuals with limited digital literacy to perform tasks such as annotating data and providing feedback for local language AI models, accessible via smartphones. This project, supported by Google.org, is part of Google’s broader effort to build an AI-ready workforce in India and globally. Last month, Google launched its AI Skills House initiative at the 10th edition of Google for India, with a goal to train 10 million Indians in AI. Additionally, Google.org recently announced a $4 million grant to the Central Square Foundation to promote responsible AI awareness in India’s educational ecosystem. Alex Diaz, Head of AI for Social Good at Google.org, expressed support for Karya’s mission, stating, “At Google.org, we are committed to using technology to create opportunities for all. We are proud to support Karya as they use AI to bring opportunities to underserved communities.” Karya plans to use the grant to develop a skilling curriculum in 10 major Indic languages, based on research and practical experience. They will also create a multilingual chatbot powered by generative AI to provide real-time support in multiple languages, expanding access for people with varying levels of digital competence. In Africa, the platform and chatbot will be tested in Ethiopia, where Karya has already deployed a prototype to help users create AI tasks in Amharic. Karya will make the report of its experience in developing the multilingual chatbot freely available to developers, nonprofits, and governments, encouraging further solutions to democratize access to digital work. Manu Chopra, co-founder and CEO of Karya, highlighted the organization’s mission, stating, “Our goal at Karya is to lay down an ethical foundation for an AI-enabled future. We believe that AI can bring economic value, but we want to ensure that it directly benefits those who need it most.” In an earlier interview, Chopra explained how Karya is empowering low-income communities, stating, “We think of Karya not as a job, but as societal wealth distribution. Our workers can make in less than a year what would take an average low-income Indian over 7 generations to save.”
