Operation HOPE’s John Hope Bryant and Open AI’s Sam Altman Announce Formation of First-of-Its-Kind AI Ethics Council at 2023 Annual Meeting of the Hope Global Forums in Atlanta

AI Ethics Council Powered by Operation HOPE will Collaborate with HBCU and Civil Rights Leaders to Help Ensure that All are Protected and have the Opportunity to Participate in the New World of AI

Open AI Also Commits to its First-Ever Grant to a Community-Based Organization with $500,000 to Support Operation HOPE’s Financial Coaching Services

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On stage yesterday afternoon at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Hope Global Forums in Atlanta, GA, Operation HOPE’s John Hope Bryant and Open AI’s Sam Altman announced the formation of a first-of-its-kind Council on Artificial Intelligence powered by Operation HOPE.

The AI Ethics Council, chaired by Mr. Bryant and Mr. Altman, will work with leaders from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and civil rights community to assemble a group of leaders including civil rights activists, HBCU presidents, technology and business leaders, clergy, government officials and ethicists to ensure all are protected and have the opportunity to participate in this new world of AI.

Ambassador Andrew Young, Bernice King, Dr. Helene Gayle (President of Spelman College), and Dr. George French (President of Clark Atlanta University) have already committed to join the council, with more to be announced soon.

Open AI has also committed to its first-ever grant to a community-based organization with $500,000 to help further build out Operation HOPE’s financial coaching and support services.

Mr. Altman and Mr. Bryant came together during a listening tour at Clark Atlanta University this summer and determined that they share concerns about bias and discrimination in AI, yet also believe that AI can overwhelmingly positively impact lives and create new economic opportunities for people of color. By working with HBCUs and civil rights leaders, who have rich history as shapers and guardians of civil liberties with deep experience understanding and guiding ethical decision-making behavior during historical-critical junctures, the AI Ethics Council is designed to help ensure the inclusivity of marginalized populations and people of color during this economic revolution, helping facilitate the financial participation of challenged individuals, institutions, and communities focused on minorities.

A full replay of the conversation between Mr. Bryant and Mr. Altman at the Hope Global Forums can be viewed here.

About Operation HOPE, Inc.

Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserved—disrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communities—turning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. For more information: OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.