The Gospel Coalition confirms grant from anti-AI nonprofit

A vice president at The Gospel Coalition confirmed Wednesday that the Christian media outlet accepted a $200,000 grant from a nonprofit dedicated to greater regulation of artificial intelligence. Collin Hansen, the vice president for content and editor-in-chief of The Gospel Coalition, wrote on social media that they had accepted the grant. He denied assertions that a recent update to their editorial policy was connected to the grant from the Future of Life Institute, or FLI.

Hansen said TGC began writing about AI in 2017 and began to answer frequently asked questions on the subject in 2019. He said the update to the editorial policy this summer was in light of the number of AI-written pieces they were rejecting. He said the grant from FLI was a reward for addressing “theologically sound use of AI.” TGC’s convictions were not for sale, Hansen added.

What was the timeline? In May 2026, the anti-AI non-governmental organization Future of Life Institute gave TGC $200,000, according to their grant page. Three months later, on Aug. 5, a senior editor issued TGC’s Line in The Sand statement against AI. TGC continued to write against unfettered AI use. Earlier this week, contributor Gavin Ortlund wrote on social media about AI’s risk of causing human extinction. TGC did not seem to disclose the grant in its anti-AI content on its website.

Authors Megan Basham and Jerry Bowyers were among the critics of TGC taking the grant. Journalist Brian Chau, the founder of an AI-based reporting initiative, earlier wrote that several other religious organizations, including the World Council of Churches, took such grants.

What is the Future of Life Institute? The Future of Life Institute is a nonprofit that works to make sure powerful new technologies are used to benefit people while avoiding serious risks. Much of its focus is on preventing the development or use of AI that they say could cause risks to human life or even cause extinction. FLI has awarded religious NGOs like seminaries and religious-affinity groups with grants, awarding 16 grants in 2026 totaling about $1.5 million.