Artificial Intelligence is shaping how people communicate, learn and create online, and as such, efforts to help communities understand the technology are gaining urgency.
At a gathering of policymakers, tech leaders and digital safety advocates in Nairobi, TikTok announced a new investment aimed at strengthening AI literacy across Sub-Saharan Africa, placing education and media awareness at the centre of the region’s evolving digital culture.
The platform revealed an additional $200,000 (KSh, 25.9M) to support organisations working to expand AI media literacy, helping communities better understand emerging technologies and identify misinformation online.
The announcement comes as AI videos on platforms are becoming more advanced, with AI video generators becoming more accessible.
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The announcement came during the third annual Sub-Saharan Africa Safer Internet Summit, a two-day event hosted in Nairobi that brought together government officials, regulators, online safety partners and industry leaders to discuss safer internet practices under the theme #SaferTogether: Innovation and Safety.
Tokunbo Ibrahim, Head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Sub-Saharan Africa at TikTok, emphasised the importance of collaboration in building safer online communities.
“As we host the 3rd Annual Safer Internet Summit here in Kenya, our mission is clear: to share learnings, insights, tackle common challenges and collaboratively advance actionable solutions that protect citizens online. By bringing together a diverse coalition of policymakers, tech innovators, and creators, we are ensuring that the conversations we have at this Summit are all-inclusive and lead to a more resilient digital landscape.”
The new funding builds on TikTok’s $2 million (KSh. 259.1M) AI Literacy Fund, launched in late 2025 to support global nonprofits creating content that helps the public better understand artificial intelligence.
The initiative has already partnered with organisations including:
Mtoto News, which develops educational content for children and adolescents about responsible technology use
Africa Check, a fact-checking organisation expanding its work in Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya
Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, whose fact-checking platform DUBAWA works to combat misinformation across the continent.
Through these partnerships, according to Valiant Richey, the goal is to make AI literacy more accessible to everyday internet users, whether they are students encountering AI tools for the first time or social media audiences learning how to spot deepfakes and manipulated content.
“With the rapid advancement of AI, we are committed to educating our community online so they feel empowered to have responsible experiences with AI, whether that’s as viewers or creators,” said Valiant Richey, Global Head of Partnerships, Elections & Market Integrity at TikTok. “We are partnering with trusted local organisations that communities already know and rely on, because their expertise and deep local connections are essential to making AI literacy programs truly impactful.”
