Unveiled at the AI Action Summit in France, Current AI stands out as a new partnership established to support artificial intelligence projects for public good. Starting off with a commitment of $400 million, the initiative aims to secure an additional $2.5 billion investment over the next five years. The project is geared towards enhancing productivity in the health, climate, and social impact sectors.

Another partnership in the field of artificial intelligence is emerging. Current AI has been announced as an initiative focused on promoting the development of artificial intelligence in beneficial ways for society, highlighting a “public interest” perspective.

This new initiative was revealed at the AI Action Summit in France and is set to commence with an initial commitment of $400 million. The project’s goal is to attract an additional $2.5 billion in investment over the next five years.

Even though it may seem modest compared to the newly announced $112 billion private sector support package in France, Current AI believes that, as it does not primarily focus on computing power, this amount could still make a significant impact.

Critical research is being targeted on how artificial intelligence can be used for public good in areas such as health and climate goals.

Among the objectives of Current AI are:

Increasing access to high-quality public and private datasets for artificial intelligence education.Supporting open-source infrastructure and tools to enhance transparency and security in artificial intelligence.Encouraging the development of systems that measure the social and environmental impact of artificial intelligence.

Improved treatments for diseases will be facilitated

The founder of the initiative, Martin Tisne, summarizes the mission of Current AI as follows:

“This initiative will serve as a ‘North Star’ for directing public funds towards critical artificial intelligence projects. We aim to enable the use of artificial intelligence to develop treatments for diseases like cancer or long COVID.”

OPEN SOURCE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

By investing in strengthening the open-source ecosystem, Current AI aims to make open-source artificial intelligence tools as user-friendly and efficient as proprietary solutions. Additionally, the initiative will work on accountability in artificial intelligence.

Tisne states that the objectives include establishing common standards for auditing artificial intelligence systems and ensuring active participation from different communities in these processes.

SUPPORTED BY GOOGLE

The initiative is supported by a mix of public and private entities.

Among the nine countries listed as partners at the launch are the governments of France, Germany, Chile, Kenya, Morocco, and Nigeria. (Note: The U.S. is not a participant, and no governments in Asia, hence the efforts of Current AI are directed by European and Global South policymakers. The other listed countries are Finland, Slovenia, and Switzerland.)

Moreover, other companies listed as “core partners” in PR include U.S. tech giants Google and Salesforce.

SUPPORTING THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ECOSYSTEM FOR PUBLIC GOOD

Tisne says they could support the development of privacy-preserving technologies to expand access to health data.

Current AI will focus on three main areas of activity:Providing direct financial support. (through grant programs)Nurturing new artificial intelligence innovations by promoting research.Aligning different funding sources towards common objectives.

Half of the donated funds will be distributed as grants, while the other half will be directed towards projects focusing on data access, open-source, and artificial intelligence accountability.

Current AI has announced that it will unveil new supporters in the coming months. Tisne specifically mentioned their desire to collaborate with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.