Euro-Global AI Partnership Launched with $400 Million in Pledges
The French AI Action summit recently witnessed the launch of “Current AI”, a public interest initiative focused on fostering and steering the development of artificial intelligence in societally beneficial directions. The initiative has received an initial $400 million in pledges, with a plan to raise $2.5 billion over the next five years.
The partnership is not focused on compute, and its backers believe that modest sums can make a difference in key areas where AI can make a critical difference to advancing the public interest, such as in AI for healthcare or supporting climate goals.
Public Interest AI Ecosystem Support
Efforts to wide access to health data could, for example, focus on supporting development of privacy-preserving technologies to enable more patients to share their data for AI research. “There isn’t another partnership set up which is really designed to bring the whole field together and to bring together public financing at scale,” said Martin Tisné, the founder of Current AI.
Europe and the Global South Chip In
The initiative is being backed by a mix of public and private actors, including governments such as France, Germany, Chile, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria, as well as private sector giants like Google and Salesforce.
Private Sector Support
The partnership is keen to work with industry research labs, technology companies that have a distinct positioning, startups that are pushing the envelope on openness, and large companies that are users and buyers of open source products.
Current AI Goals and Approach
Current AI aims to create a financial vehicle to provide a “North Star” for public financing of critical efforts, such as bringing AI to bear on combating cancers or coming up with treatments for long COVID. The partnership will deploy around half its donated funds in the form of grant awards, with the other half being pegged for aligned funding efforts.
Key Objectives
* Pushing to widen access to “high-quality” public and private data-sets for AI training
* Support for open source infrastructure and tooling to boost AI transparency and security
* Support for developing systems to measure AI’s social and environmental impact
FAQs
Q: What is Current AI and what are its goals?
A: Current AI is a public interest initiative focused on fostering and steering the development of artificial intelligence in societally beneficial directions. Its goals include pushing to widen access to “high-quality” public and private data-sets for AI training, supporting open source infrastructure and tooling, and developing systems to measure AI’s social and environmental impact.
Q: Who are the backers of Current AI?
A: The initiative has received pledges from a range of public and private actors, including governments such as France, Germany, Chile, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria, as well as private sector giants like Google and Salesforce.
Q: What is the current plan for funding?
A: Current AI aims to raise $2.5 billion over the next five years, with around half of the funds being deployed in the form of grant awards and the other half being allocated for aligned funding efforts.
Q: What is the focus of Current AI?
A: The focus of Current AI is on creating a financial vehicle to provide a “North Star” for public financing of critical efforts, such as bringing AI to bear on combating cancers or coming up with treatments for long COVID.
