Andy Konwinski, a prominent computer scientist and co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity, has announced the establishment of a new AI research institute that will be backed by a personal investment of $100 million. This important effort aims to fund free, nonpartisan research on the emerging field of artificial intelligence. Its overarching purpose is to orient the field towards achieving equitable outcomes for all.
In a blog post detailing the institute’s mission, Konwinski emphasized the importance of conducting research that not only advances technology but benefits society. He stated, “We exist to catalyze work that doesn’t just push the field forward but guides it towards more beneficial outcomes.”
The institute will be the foundation of the new AI Systems Lab being established at the University of California, Berkeley. The effort will provide a large model grant of $3 million per year for five years. This funding will tremendously contribute to quality research and innovation in AI. Ion Stoica, who currently directs the Sky Computing Lab and co-founded the generative AI startup Anyscale, will direct the new lab.
The board of the institute reads like a who’s who of Silicon Valley and the world’s top universities. Among them are Dave Patterson, a professor at UC Berkeley, Jeff Dean, Google’s chief scientist, and Joelle Pineau, Meta’s vice president of AI Research. This leadership team’s diversity further attests to the institute’s efforts to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and excellence in AI research.
Konwinski’s company, Laude, is in the process of organizing the institute as a nonprofit with a for-profit public benefit corporation operating arm. This framework pushes the boundaries of creative scholarship. Additionally, it ensures that the research addresses societal needs and aligns with ethical principles.
Konwinski’s personal fortune—which largely made his finance pledge possible—has been immensely enriched by wildly successful funding rounds at Databricks. The company announced its $15.3 billion funding round in January, and that raised its valuation to $62 billion. Notably, Perplexity achieved a $14 billion valuation last month. These achievements reflect Konwinski’s acumen in the tech sector and his commitment to leveraging his success for broader societal impact.
The focus areas of the new AI research institute will be Slingshots and Moonshots, said Konwinski. Second, he will divide his research investments into these two different buckets. Slingshots and Moonshots Slingshots are shorter-term, more tangible projects that can produce quicker returns and benefits, whereas Moonshots are long-term opportunities for transformational change. Funding AI in this twofold way will better calibrate the speed of breakthrough development with the pace of longterm, visionary AI exploration.
The institute’s purpose is to fund genuinely independent research. It’s this type of research that can translate into commercially successful technologies oriented toward improving the human condition. Through support, funding, and mentorship, Konwinski aims to spark creativity that puts ethical implications on an equal playing field with technological breakthroughs.
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