Hewlett Foundation chief urges philanthropy to bridge AI governance rift; $10M grants target tech security

As debates between Washington and Silicon Valley over artificial intelligence policy grow more contentious, Hewlett Foundation President Amber D. Miller is urging philanthropy and civil society to help bridge what she describes as America’s AI governance gap.

In a new op-ed published by RealClearPolicy on April 22, 2026, Miller contends that governments and industry cannot close the divide on their own, and that independent institutions can play a critical role.

Drawing on her background as a physicist, Miller calls for a practical, non-ideological approach to AI governance that prioritizes protecting critical infrastructure, preventing strategic technological surprise, and keeping people safe while fostering innovation.

“Much of America’s critical infrastructure is highly distributed and deeply vulnerable, and its protection is dangerously under-resourced. The Hewlett Foundation wants to maximize the public benefits of emerging technologies while proactively mitigating their risks,” she writes.

To support that agenda, the Hewlett Foundation recently announced $10 million in exploratory grants to strengthen the security of emerging technologies, including AI, biotechnology, and quantum computing. Major grants were awarded to Stanford University’s Hoover Institution for its Tech Futures Lab, which focuses on anticipating technological surprises and enhancing U.S.

resilience, and to Vanderbilt University’s Institute for National Security for its Wicked Problems Lab, which is developing defenses against synthetic information warfare such as deepfakes. Condoleezza Rice, the Hoover Institution’s director and a former U.S. secretary of state, underscored the case for building safeguards early, saying, “Innovation is key to national security....

Innovators will have more valuable, more marketable products if they build security into it at the front end.” Other grantees include the AI Now Institute, Aspen Institute, Atlantic Council, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Council on Foreign Relations, Georgetown University, Global Network Initiative, Institute for Security and Technology, Observer Research Foundation America, RAND, and Sentinel Bio.

Miller is urging others to join the effort, arguing that America’s continued leadership will depend not only on scientific breakthroughs but on whether innovation earns public trust and delivers broad benefits. “America has led every major technological era of the modern age, helping usher in significant discoveries that have benefited communities both here and around the world.

Whether it continues to lead will depend not only on breakthroughs in labs, but on whether innovation earns public trust and delivers broad benefits. Philanthropy, with its long-term focus and commitment to charitable good, can do much to help,” she writes.