Andy Konwinski, the entrepreneurial force behind Databricks and Perplexity, is making an audacious move to reshape the landscape of artificial intelligence research. On Monday, Konwinski unveiled his latest venture: a $100 million personal pledge to launch the Laude Institute, an ambitious initiative to fuel breakthrough AI research and empower the next wave of innovators.
A New Model for AI Research Funding
Laude isn’t a traditional research lab—it’s a hybrid, operating as a nonprofit with a public benefit corporation arm. Its core mission is to catalyze computer science research that advances the field and steers it toward outcomes that benefit society at large. The board reads like a who’s who of AI: UC Berkeley’s Dave Patterson, Google’s Jeff Dean, and Meta’s Joelle Pineau, each bringing heavyweight expertise and credibility.
Flagship Grant: $15M to Anchor UC Berkeley’s New AI Systems Lab
The Institute’s first major act is a $3 million annual grant over five years—$15 million in total—to establish the AI Systems Lab at UC Berkeley. This new lab, set to open in 2027, will be led by Ion Stoica, a celebrated figure in both academia and the startup world, known for his work on Anyscale and Databricks. The lab aims to bring together top researchers to tackle foundational challenges in AI, building on Berkeley’s storied tradition of innovation.
Slingshots and Moonshots: Two Paths for Impact
Laude’s investment strategy is split into “Slingshots” for early-stage, high-potential research, and “Moonshots” for long-term, ambitious projects targeting societal-scale problems—think AI for healthcare, scientific discovery, civic discourse, and workforce reskilling. Seed grants of $250,000 will help promising ideas get off the ground, while the most impactful projects could evolve into multi-year labs with university partnerships.
Backing Independence in a Commercialized AI World
Konwinski’s timing is deliberate. As AI benchmarks proliferate and commercial interests increasingly shape research agendas, Laude is positioning itself as a haven for independent, high-risk, high-reward projects.. The Institute’s structure is a direct response to concerns that academic research is being overshadowed by profit motives—a trend seen even at the biggest names in AI.
A Personal Fortune Fuels the Vision
The scale of Konwinski’s pledge is made possible by Databricks’ recent $15.3 billion funding round, which pushed its valuation to $62 billion, and Perplexity’s own $14 billion milestone. But Laude isn’t just about one man’s fortune: Konwinski is actively seeking other technologists to join the cause, aiming to build a coalition of industry leaders committed to the public good.
What's Next
With details on application processes and collaborations set to emerge in the coming months, Laude’s $100 million commitment is already sending ripples through the AI research community. As the world debates the direction and ethics of artificial intelligence, Konwinski’s bold bet could provide the independent, mission-driven research the field desperately needs.
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