The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT receives $2 million from Bezos Earth Fund to advance AI solutions for climate and nature

Cali, Colombia, October 23, 2025: The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT has been selected as one of 15 global teams awarded funding through the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge, receiving up to $2 million USD to scale artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges — ranging from biodiversity loss, food insecurity and climate change.

Launched in 2024, the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge is a $100 million USD initiative that connects innovators with resources and mentorship from leading technology partners including AWS, Google.org, NVIDIA Corporation, Microsoft Research, AI2, and Esri. “These projects show how AI, when developed responsibly and guided by science and local knowledge, can strengthen environmental action and ensure its overall impact on the planet is positive,” said Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki, Director of AI and Data Strategies at the Bezos Earth Fund.

The team from the Alliance, in collaboration with the Yale University and Biomedit, will develop the ‘Rumen Digital Twin’—an AI-powered model that simulates virtual ruminant populations by integrating data on livestock, environments, diets, host genetics and microbiomes. This pioneering tool will empower communities, researchers and organizations seeking to investigate and predict the precise conditions and animal traits under which feed additives or other interventions are most effective, based on these context-dependent relationships between ruminants and their rumen microbiomes.