TRAILS Announces Third Round of Seed Funding

The Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS) has announced a third round of seed funding, offering substantial support to a series of projects intended to transform the practice of AI from one that is driven solely by technological development to one that encourages tech innovation and competitiveness through cutting-edge science focused on human rights and human flourishing.

The seven seed grants announced on July 22, 2025—each between $50,000 to $150,000, totaling just over $750,000—were awarded to faculty and students from the University of Maryland, George Washington University, Morgan State University and Cornell University, representing all four of TRAILS’ academic institutions.

The interdisciplinary projects will address topics that include ensuring the trustworthiness of public safety information that large language models (LLMs) extract during disasters, identifying instructional needs for youth and families who wish to engage with AI, and helping more stakeholders participate more fully in the governance of AI.

The projects selected were chosen based on their potential to advance TRAILS’ four core scientific research thrusts: participatory AI design, methods, sense-making and governance. They also enact the institute’s commitment to advancing scientific knowledge in concert with educating and empowering AI users, said Hal Daumé III, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland and the director of TRAILS.

“As we continue to expand our impact and outreach, we’re aware of the need to align our technological expertise—which is quite robust—with new methodologies we’re developing that can help people and organizations realize the full potential of AI,” Daumé said. “If people don’t understand and see what they care about reflected in AI technology, they’re not going to trust it. And if they don’t trust it, they won’t want to use it.”

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