SAN FRANCISCO, July 21 — The decision by iNaturalist to accept a Google.org grant for generative AI has triggered an internal crisis of confidence among its global user base, raising strategic questions about the future of citizen science and the governance of open biodiversity data. The announcement on June 9, and the subsequent lack of immediate detail on the platform’s website, sparked a backlash that now threatens the very volunteer engagement the nonprofit depends on.
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the tech giant, awarded iNaturalist a grant to use generative AI to address tough societal issues. The initial silence from iNaturalist following the award led to an outcry in blog comments and forum posts.
Users expressed worry about consequences for the environment, the reliability of the platform’s data, and the willingness of volunteers to continue contributing. They also questioned the decision-making process at the organisation. In response, iNaturalist published a blog post clarifying its planned use of the grant.
The post detailed mechanisms for scaling expert identification capacity and supporting community scientists. But for many users, the clarification came after the damage was done.
Strategic background of iNaturalist
iNaturalist began in 2008 as a UC Berkeley School of Information Master’s final project. It grew into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists, mapping and sharing biodiversity observations globally. In 2014 it merged with the California Academy of Sciences, and in 2017 became a joint initiative with the National Geographic Society.
On July 11, 2023, iNaturalist announced its independence as a newly standalone 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Co-directors Ken-ichi Ueda and Scott Loarie now steer the organisation.
The platform’s scale is substantial. As of August 5, 2025, users had contributed nearly 300 million observations of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms. Over 400,000 users were active in the previous month.
It took until 2014 to reach 1 million observations; by October 2023 the total stood at 181 million (163 million of them verifiable). Its automated species identification tool and community-assisted ID system have made it an important resource of open data for biodiversity research, conservation, and education.
Most of its software is open source. The platform has contributed to over 4,000 research papers and has been active in discovering new species and rediscovering ones assumed extinct.
What this signals for citizen science
The calculus behind the Google.org grant is clear: iNaturalist seeks to leverage generative AI to handle the sheer volume of incoming observations. But the outcry signals a fundamental tension. Citizen scientists contribute time and expertise partly because they value human curation and community trust.
Introducing AI—especially generative AI prone to hallucination—risks alienating the very volunteers who built the dataset. The broader stakes involve control over biodiversity data, a resource increasingly viewed as strategically important for conservation, land management, and even national biosecurity.
If iNaturalist’s governance tilts toward automated systems without deep consultation of its user base, the platform could see a fragmentation of trust. Other countries or institutions may seek to build parallel databases with closed, state-controlled AI systems. For now, iNaturalist has publicly committed to using the grant to scale expert identification capacity rather than replace it.
But the episode leaves an open question: can a nonprofit balance the efficiency demands of AI with the human-centered ethos that built the world’s largest biodiversity observation network? The coming months will test whether the platform’s leadership can rebuild confidence or whether the AI pivot will drive a wedge through the community it relies on.
Sources
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