OpenAI opens $22.5K scholar applications to diversify AI

OpenAI just flung the doors open on its second Scholars program, and the pitch is simple: six to ten people from underrepresented groups get paid to learn deep learning for three months. No PhD required. The stipend is $7,500 a month, which works out to $22,500 total, plus another $25,000 in AWS credits to actually build something. Applications are being evaluated on a rolling basis right now.

The first cohort already proved the model works. Those scholars shipped open-source projects, presented at a demo day, and at least some landed full-time roles at OpenAI itself. That “guaranteed interview” for graduates isn’t just a nice line in a blog post — it’s a deliberate pipeline. The mentors list includes OpenAI staffers who’ll do weekly one-on-one video calls, and if you happen to be in the Bay Area, there’s a desk waiting for you at the office. Remote is fine too, as long as you’re in US timezones with work authorization.

What’s striking is how low the technical barrier to entry actually is. OpenAI wants you comfortable writing Python and able to grok a couple of articles on calculus and linear algebra. That’s it. “It’s a common myth that you need a PhD to work in AI,” the announcement notes, and they’re backing that up with cash and compute. The program runs February through May 2019, and they expect scholars to document the whole learning process publicly — part of a broader bet that watching someone struggle through and master deep learning will pull more people into the field.

I’ve seen plenty of diversity initiatives in tech that amount to little more than a logo on a conference tote bag. This one has teeth because it removes the two biggest barriers simultaneously: money and access. Three months of funded focus with a mentor who actually works in the field is the kind of concentrated opportunity that can change a career trajectory. The real test will be whether cohort two’s projects push beyond what the first group built, and how many of those guaranteed interviews convert into hires.