What Nonprofits Should Know from Stanford’s 2025 AI Index Report
About Stanford HAI and the AI Index
The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) was established to guide the ethical development of AI. Based at Stanford University, HAI brings together interdisciplinary researchers, industry leaders, and policy experts to ensure AI advances with human values at the core.
Since its founding, HAI has served as a thought leader in AI policy and public understanding. One of its cornerstone projects, the annual AI Index Report, compiles data and analysis to track artificial intelligence’s development, deployment, and societal impact globally.
The 2025 report reflects major shifts in how AI is built and used and how people, institutions, and governments respond to its growing influence. This includes the rising role of industry in shaping AI capabilities, the uneven distribution of benefits and harms across communities, and new questions about regulation, trust, and responsibility. For leaders of nonprofit organizations, this report is worthwhile reading. Since we are all so busy, I’m offering a summary.
Summary: Key 2025 Trends from Stanford HAI
- AI Innovation Is Accelerating—but Industry Controls the Tools
In 2024, industry produced nearly 90% of notable AI models, up from 60% in 2023. Academic researchers still generate the most influential work, but often without the infrastructure industry enjoys. This deepening gap limits who gets to shape AI and who benefits from it.
Nonprofits must advocate for equitable access to AI tools that impact everything from healthcare to education.
- AI’s Impact on Work: Displacement and New Opportunities
AI adoption surged in 2024, with 78% of organizations using it, up from 55% in 2023. Generative AI appeared in at least one function at 71% of these firms. However, financial gains were modest. Behind the numbers, work itself is changing. Some jobs are disappearing, and others are being redefined.
Meanwhile, new roles are emerging around AI requiring digital skills. Members of underserved communities may lack access to the digital training they need to qualify for these AI-adjacent jobs. As public investment in workforce development declines and automation accelerates, nonprofits become critical actors in bridging the gap, ensuring that reskilling efforts reach workers most vulnerable to job displacement and that new AI-driven opportunities aren’t reserved for the already advantaged.
- AI Education Expands—but Not Equally
AI is becoming a staple in classrooms, but many students remain unprepared. In the U.S., while 81% of high school computer science teachers believe AI should be taught, only half feel equipped to do so. Globally, two-thirds of countries now offer or plan to provide K–12 computer science education, but disparities in access remain stark.
In a time when public education and civic infrastructure face growing political threats, nonprofits have a critical role in supporting educators, broadening access to AI literacy, and ensuring all students can participate in and shape the future of an AI-driven world.
- Public Concern About AI Grows
Trust in AI is waning. Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans now believe AI’s benefits outweigh its harms. People are grappling with biased algorithms, deepfakes, and opaque systems that shape outcomes in housing, hiring, and more. Still, local policy support is rising: 74% of U.S. local officials now favor AI regulation.
As political agendas increasingly sideline oversight and accountability, nonprofits in civic tech, journalism, and advocacy play a key role in ensuring that emerging technologies do not undermine democratic norms.
- Responsible AI Still Lags Behind
AI-related incidents jumped 56% in 2024, and bias remains widespread. While frameworks for responsible AI are growing, adoption is limited. Also, access to the open data that fuels many models is shrinking.
Nonprofits must advocate for accountability, support open data initiatives, and help educate the public about AI’s impacts.
- Governments Are Acting—But Need Guidance
In 2024, U.S. states passed 131 AI laws, up from 49 the year before. The European Union launched a sweeping AI Act. Countries like India, France, and Canada pledged billions to develop AI infrastructure and talent.
As these policies take shape, nonprofits must ensure public needs, not just private interests, are at the center. Advocacy, coalition-building, and civic engagement are critical.
- AI in Health Is Advancing—But Equity Must Come First
AI now helps diagnose disease, flag high-risk patients, and speed up drug discovery. In some cases, it outperforms doctors. However, these advances risk deepening inequities if they are not shared widely.
With public research funding under threat and institutional safeguards weakening, nonprofits focused on health equity and patient advocacy are essential in shaping how medical AI is developed and deployed—and in making sure its benefits don’t bypass the communities most in need.
Looking Ahead: Choices That Shape the Future
AI is no longer a future force—it’s shaping our present. The Stanford HAI report clarifies where we are and what paths lie ahead, depending on choices made now.
What Nonprofits Should Know from Stanford’s 2025 AI Index Report
About Stanford HAI and the AI Index
The Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) was established to guide the ethical development of AI. Based at Stanford University, HAI brings together interdisciplinary researchers, industry leaders, and policy experts to ensure AI advances with human values at the core.
Since its founding, HAI has served as a thought leader in AI policy and public understanding. One of its cornerstone projects, the annual AI Index Report, compiles data and analysis to track artificial intelligence’s development, deployment, and societal impact globally.
The 2025 report reflects major shifts in how AI is built and used and how people, institutions, and governments respond to its growing influence. This includes the rising role of industry in shaping AI capabilities, the uneven distribution of benefits and harms across communities, and new questions about regulation, trust, and responsibility. For leaders of nonprofit organizations, this report is worthwhile reading. Since we are all so busy, I’m offering a summary.
Summary: Key 2025 Trends from Stanford HAI
- AI Innovation Is Accelerating—but Industry Controls the Tools
In 2024, industry produced nearly 90% of notable AI models, up from 60% in 2023. Academic researchers still generate the most influential work, but often without the infrastructure industry enjoys. This deepening gap limits who gets to shape AI and who benefits from it.
Nonprofits must advocate for equitable access to AI tools that impact everything from healthcare to education.
- AI’s Impact on Work: Displacement and New Opportunities
AI adoption surged in 2024, with 78% of organizations using it, up from 55% in 2023. Generative AI appeared in at least one function at 71% of these firms. However, financial gains were modest. Behind the numbers, work itself is changing. Some jobs are disappearing, and others are being redefined.
Meanwhile, new roles are emerging around AI requiring digital skills. Members of underserved communities may lack access to the digital training they need to qualify for these AI-adjacent jobs. As public investment in workforce development declines and automation accelerates, nonprofits become critical actors in bridging the gap, ensuring that reskilling efforts reach workers most vulnerable to job displacement and that new AI-driven opportunities aren’t reserved for the already advantaged.
- AI Education Expands—but Not Equally
AI is becoming a staple in classrooms, but many students remain unprepared. In the U.S., while 81% of high school computer science teachers believe AI should be taught, only half feel equipped to do so. Globally, two-thirds of countries now offer or plan to provide K–12 computer science education, but disparities in access remain stark.
In a time when public education and civic infrastructure face growing political threats, nonprofits have a critical role in supporting educators, broadening access to AI literacy, and ensuring all students can participate in and shape the future of an AI-driven world.
- Public Concern About AI Grows
Trust in AI is waning. Fewer than 4 in 10 Americans now believe AI’s benefits outweigh its harms. People are grappling with biased algorithms, deepfakes, and opaque systems that shape outcomes in housing, hiring, and more. Still, local policy support is rising: 74% of U.S. local officials now favor AI regulation.
As political agendas increasingly sideline oversight and accountability, nonprofits in civic tech, journalism, and advocacy play a key role in ensuring that emerging technologies do not undermine democratic norms.
- Responsible AI Still Lags Behind
AI-related incidents jumped 56% in 2024, and bias remains widespread. While frameworks for responsible AI are growing, adoption is limited. Also, access to the open data that fuels many models is shrinking.
Nonprofits must advocate for accountability, support open data initiatives, and help educate the public about AI’s impacts.
- Governments Are Acting—But Need Guidance
In 2024, U.S. states passed 131 AI laws, up from 49 the year before. The European Union launched a sweeping AI Act. Countries like India, France, and Canada pledged billions to develop AI infrastructure and talent.
As these policies take shape, nonprofits must ensure public needs, not just private interests, are at the center. Advocacy, coalition-building, and civic engagement are critical.
- AI in Health Is Advancing—But Equity Must Come First
AI now helps diagnose disease, flag high-risk patients, and speed up drug discovery. In some cases, it outperforms doctors. However, these advances risk deepening inequities if they are not shared widely.
With public research funding under threat and institutional safeguards weakening, nonprofits focused on health equity and patient advocacy are essential in shaping how medical AI is developed and deployed—and in making sure its benefits don’t bypass the communities most in need.
Looking Ahead: Choices That Shape the Future
AI is no longer a future force—it’s shaping our present. The Stanford HAI report clarifies where we are and what paths lie ahead, depending on choices made now.