Robert Gorwa Receives 2026 ERC Starting Grant for His Research on AI Governance
Robert Gorwa, researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, has been awarded a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for his research project “ALIGNING AI,” as the ERC announced today in Brussels. With funding of 1.5 million euros over a period of up to five years, the ERC Starting Grant is the most generously funded and prestigious individual grant for early-career researchers in Europe. In this project, Robert Gorwa will examine the political decisions made by major technology companies that build AI systems. These companies control the information output of their models through filters and other ‘guardrails.’ The aim of this new research project is to critically examine this form of privatized exercise of power in light of the increasing integration of AI into our daily lives.
The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) poses a major challenge—not only economically but also politically and regulatorily—for individuals, civil society, and government actors. AI is transforming not only the way we process information but also how people interact with the world. Companies that develop the most popular AI models are therefore poised wield significant power and influence. Robert Gorwa, Research Fellow of the Research Group Globalization, Work, and Production, will use his empirical project, ALIGNING AI, to trace the complex processes and framework conditions within which the developers of large language models take into account the concerns, reservations, and requirements of a wide variety of interest groups and national authorities when designing and deploying their AI models. While the companies behind the AI models portray this so-called “alignment” as a neutral technical process designed to ensure safety and take societal values into account, Gorwa’s project positions it instead as a highly political and understudied system of privatized governance.
Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln, President of the WZB, says: “I am delighted that the ERC has once again awarded a Starting Grant to a research project at the WZB. Robert Gorwa is venturing into largely uncharted territory with his research on AI governance. The private-sector decisions made by major tech companies influence not only AI models but, through their design and functioning, society as a whole. If we understand more about the mechanisms of this governance, we can better assess its social and political consequences—and also identify ways to ensure the responsible design of AI tools. Robert Gorwa’s research can make an important contribution to this effort. With his interdisciplinary approach, he bridges political science and media studies and pursues precisely the kind of problem-oriented basic research that the WZB stands for.”
Robert Gorwa says: “I'm beyond honoured to have been selected for an ERC starting grant, and thrilled that the ERC has decided to fund this ambitious interdisciplinary intervention into a fast-moving technological and policy domain. I'm hoping that with this project, we'll be able to significantly advance the ways that social scientific methods can be brought to bear on the increasingly important and yet still understudied role of large technology firms as embodied political and social actors.”
ERC Starting Grant
The European Research Council (ERC), set up by the European Union in 2007, has funded basic research in Europe regardless of topic or practical application, based solely on scientific excellence. The ERC Starting Grant supports exceptional early-career researchers who want to start their own independent research group at a European institution. The goal is to foster young talent, promote excellence-based research, and ensure Europe’s competitiveness in cutting-edge research.