Google has committed $20 million in cash and $2 million in cloud credits to a new funding initiative aimed at helping scientists and researchers use artificial intelligence (AI) to discover the next great scientific breakthrough. Insert dollars.
The announcement, made by Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, during a fireside chat at the private AI for Science forum in London today, is a sign of support for young innovators and startups. It contributes to a broader push by Big Tech to gain This includes acquisitions, equity investments, and cloud partnerships, some of which have attracted regulatory attention.
This latest announcement, made via Google.org, Google's 19-year-old philanthropic arm, is different in that it focuses on non-equity funding to academic and nonprofit institutions around the world. But like other Big Tech funding and partnership efforts, this will go some way to helping Google win over top scientists, either through direct funding or providing infrastructure to power projects. . This puts Google in a good position to attract future customers, especially those who are trying to accomplish great things today by working on projects that require the critical AI tools and computing that Google can provide.
Google isn't alone in this approach. Just last week, Amazon's cloud leader AWS announced $110 million in grants and credits to attract AI researchers to its ecosystem. Google itself has recently launched a $20 million fund to support think tanks and academic institutions building AI expertise, as well as a similarly sized fund to run a generative AI accelerator program for non-experts. We have other similar efforts in the AI space. profit.
Dealing with complex problems
According to an accompanying blog post from Google Vice President and Global Head of Google Maggie Johnson, one thing the winning applicants have in common is that they are “applying AI to increasingly complex problems at the intersection of different scientific disciplines. “Use this to deal with it.” organization,
“Areas such as rare and neglected disease research, experimental biology, materials science, and sustainability all hold promise,” Johnson wrote.
In response to some follow-up questions from TechCrunch, a Google spokesperson said there is no clear goal in terms of the number of projects the company is considering funding. But they stressed that they want the funding to be “sufficient to foster scientific progress.” This means that they are not thinking about distributing their funds widely in small amounts. Instead, it will likely be distributed among up to around 15 organizations, with recipients expected to be selected and funded by 2026.
It's worth noting that it's been a big year for Google's AI arm DeepMind itself. Hassabis, one of DeepMind's three founders, was knighted in March for his contributions to AI. And in October, John Jumper, director of Hassabis and DeepMind (pictured above), announced his work on alphafolds, which has helped accelerate research in drug discovery, disease diagnosis, and bioengineering. He won half of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
This latest fund essentially aims to build on that momentum.
“We believe that artificial intelligence will help scientists and researchers achieve the greatest advances of our time,” Hassabis said in a stock statement issued to TechCrunch. “The launch of our $20 million fund will foster further collaboration between the private and public sectors, spark new excitement about the power of AI and science, and encourage others to fund this important research.” We hope this will help inspire you to get involved in what we have to offer.”