11 tech bosses back launch of ‘public interest’ AI partnership

A GROUP of 11 tech industry chiefs on Sunday threw their backing behind a partnership promising tools, data and infrastructure for “public interest” artificial intelligence (AI), the Current AI organisation announced.

Figures including Mistral AI chief Arthur Mensch and LinkedIn boss Reid Hoffman said they would support Current AI’s mission, said the statement.

The organisation said US$400 million in funding would come from governments including France, Germany, Finland, Chile and Nigeria as well as companies and philanthropic organisations.

Its announcement came the day before a two-day global summit on AI opens in Paris on Monday, bringing together government and tech industry chiefs to discuss the technology’s promise and challenges.

Current AI aims to raise as much as US$2.5 billion for its mission to grant AI developers access to more data, offer open-source tools and infrastructure for programmers to build on, and “develop systems to measure AI’s social and environmental impact”.

“We’ve seen the harms of unchecked tech development and the transformative potential it holds when aligned with the public interest,” Current AI founder Martin Tisne said in the statement.

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“By supporting innovation that benefits all, we can ensure AI serves the public good.”

French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted as saying that the effort would “contribute to developing our own AI ecosystems in France and Europe, to diversifying the market, and to fostering innovation throughout the world.”

Current AI’s work would focus on areas including healthcare, linguistic diversity and science, the organisation said. AFP