Databricks Founder Andy Konwinski Banks On AI Research with $100M Investment to Kickstart The Laude Institute

Stretching the boundaries of artificial intelligence (AI), renowned computer scientist Andy Konwinski, co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity, is taking a step forward. He announced his company, Laude, is developing a new AI research institute, authenticated with $100 million of his personal finances. However, Laude Institute isn’t looking to be just another research lab. Instead, it comes off as an investment hub, structuring its funding similarly to grants.

Influential names such as UC Berkeley professor Dave Patterson, Google’s chief scientist Jeff Dean, and Meta’s vice president of AI Research Joelle Pineau, are rounding up the institution’s board. Konwinski also divulged the institute’s ‘flagship’ grant - an annual commitment of $3 million over five years to UC Berkeley for the establishment of a new AI Systems Lab.

Konwinski took to his blog to speak about the initiative, describing it as an endeavor to push the field forward and ‘catalyze work’ towards more advantageous AI outcomes.

Operating across boundaries, Konwinski’s Laude structures its function as both a nonprofit and a public benefit corporation. The interactive model is divided into two parts - ‘Slingshots’ and ‘Moonshots’, catering to early-stage research and long-horizon challenges, respectively. Konwinski’s ‘Laude’ is not limited to a research institute, positioning itself as a catalyst in the influential sphere of artificial intelligence.