North Carolina Central had a grant terminated because of the federal government's use of ChatGPT. Per a report by the News & Observer, four academic and literary organizations have filed a lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Humanities, arguing that recent grant cancellations violate constitutional protections for free speech and equal protection.
Court documents show that the Department of Government Efficiency—also known as DOGE used ChatGPT prompts to assess whether certain programs were connected to diversity, equity, and inclusion before deciding to terminate funding. The plaintiffs argue that using an AI tool to influence decisions about congressionally approved grants was improper. The News & Observer reports that the institution has already spent most of the money and wouldn't be required to pay it back.
The full exchange via the lawsuit obtained by the News & Observer is below:
Program description given to ChatGPT: “Faculty and staff from Humanities disciplines within the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities at North Carolina Central University will form a cohort to participate in a two-year project (2022-2024) that uses the NCCU materials at Digital NC (especially the newspapers and yearbooks) and the materials in the NCCU Archives to develop teaching materials to be implemented in their courses. In the first year, we will coordinate with the Digital Humanities Research Institute at CUNY for workshop materials and instructors who would be willing to run a week of workshops. After the workshop, faculty members will be expected to create and implement course modules using this digital archival material. In the second year, faculty members will participate in a symposium discussing their results and will engage with other faculty members in their disciplines as well as the greater university community and the citizens of Durham, NC.”
ChatGPT response: Yes. This initiative focuses on utilizing digital archival material to develop teaching materials and engage with the university community and citizens, promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Following ChatGPT's affirmative response, the grant for the digital archive was terminated in April 2025, per News & Observer's reporting. ChatGPT was also used in accessing two other programs connected to North Carolina Central, but the response didn't indicate that it was a “DEI” initiative. The lawsuit argues against the use of ChatGPT in making decisions on these matters, specifically regarding funds appropriated by Congress.
