Microsoft has donated $1 million to the Rust Foundation, the organization responsible for stewardship of the Rust programming language.

Rust has been skyrocketing in popularity, thanks to its performance and memory-safe features. Many developers are choosing Rust for applications, System76 is writing their COSMIC desktop environment for Linux in Rust, and the language has gained support in the Linux kernel.

The Rust Foundation says Microsoft’s $1 million donation is an unrestricted donation the company made at the end of 2023. The foundation says the donation will be used over the next two years and applied to several high-priority tasks, including:

• Hiring an additional Rust Foundation infrastructure engineer
• Funding the Rust Foundation’s capstone “Fellowship” program
• Developing new systems and programs to support the work of Rust Project maintainers and reduce workload strain.

In January 2024, the Rust Foundation’s Board of Directors approved a motion to put $350K of this funding towards employing a new Infrastructure Engineer for two years, and to ringfence $650K for the Rust Project to directly fund priorities of their choosing over a period of two years.

“By making this unrestricted $1M contribution to the Rust Foundation, Microsoft has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to the Rust programming language, the Rust Foundation’s stewardship, and the Leadership Council’s status as an advocate for the wider Rust Project,” said Rust Foundation’s Executive Director & CEO, Dr. Rebecca Rumbul. “The Rust Foundation looks forward to supporting emerging priorities within the Project, in addition to hiring a second Infrastructure Engineer and continuing our direct support of Rust maintainers through the Fellowship program.”

“This contribution demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to the Rust programming language, and its continued success through the Rust Foundation,” said Nell Shamrell-Harrington, Rust Foundation Member Director for Microsoft and Board Vice-Chair. “Microsoft is pleased to see its $1M investment being used to hire Rust Foundation infrastructure engineers, support the Rust Foundation Community Grants Program, and directly support critical areas of need identified by leaders within the Rust Project.”