Black People in AI Safety and Ethics (BASE) has begun recruiting for the inaugural BASE Fellowship. The fellowship is a 12-week, part-time, fully remote program designed to support Black researchers, professionals, and emerging talent working in AI. A.I. Safety, AI Security, AI Governance. This program is scheduled to run from April to July 2026.
The fellowship comes amid increased scrutiny of how artificial intelligence systems are managed, protected, and evaluated, and who is represented in shaping their decisions. BASE positions this program as a pathway to research and policy response work as demand for AI surveillance expertise accelerates across education, industry, and government.
Focus on AI safety, security, and governance
The BASE Fellowship is structured around three tracks: AI Coordination, AI Security, and AI Governance. Fellows will complete an initial curriculum phase covering core concepts in AI safety and ethics, followed by guided instruction and a capstone research project along their chosen track.
According to the program overview, the technical track focuses on areas such as interpretability, monitoring, adversarial robustness, and risk management, while the non-technical track focuses on policy analysis, standards development, and systemic risk assessment. Fellows are expected to produce a research product by the end of the program.
In a LinkedIn post announcing the fellowship, Lawrence Wagner said the program was designed to support Black scholars and professionals who want to “contribute meaningfully to AI safety, AI security, and AI governance,” adding that the fellowship aims to combine foundational training with structured instruction and applied research results.
Selection process and schedule
Applications close on January 9, 2026, and there will be a multi-stage selection process. Applicants who pass the initial screening stage will be asked to complete either a coding assessment or a work-based task, depending on the track they select. Successful candidates will apply for specific mentor-led projects before final offers are issued in early March.
BASE positions this fellowship as part of a broader effort to build a global community of Black practitioners and researchers working on responsible AI. The group says the continued underestimation of AI's governance and safety role is a risk to the development of fair and responsible systems.
