From Yahoo Finance:
From Inside Philanthropy, October 23, 2018:The Blackstone Group’s chairman, CEO and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman is betting big on the future of technology and artificial intelligence — $350 million to be exact.Schwarzman recently donated that money to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to help found the Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing.“Our universities don’t have enough money to train all the students that come into them,” Schwarzman told Yahoo Finance. “They can do a better job with more money, with more people to progress artificial intelligence and these other technologies, and the U.S. government has been a laggard.”Schwarzman is convinced that technology, whether in the form of artificial intelligence, machine learning or robotics, will continue to shape the future. “What I’ve learned is that it’s important for the U.S. to be competitive in these technologies.”.Moreover, Schwarzman said that tech opportunities are boundless. “There are going to be profound changes in the workforce opportunities, health care, and we need to study not just what the technologies can do, but the impact the technologies can have on a regular human being.”...MORE
For a University and a Top Billionaire Donor, a Huge Bet on Artificial Intelligence
With a $1 billion plan to restructure the school around computer science and artificial intelligence, MIT is making a huge bet on fields that are ruling the tech industry, but are also seeping into many other areas of life. And university officials are relying heavily on wealthy donors to do so, with one in particular giving $350 million.
It’s a notable convergence of a few trends in academic and research funding. For one, we’re seeing several universities prioritizing research and technology, and a surge in philanthropy to advance and/or watchdog the progress of artificial intelligence (MIT wants to do both). And the school is just the latest seeking to remake itself or add a substantial new dimension using private donations, aiming to remain competitive in the increasingly costly world of higher education.
The announcement of any $1 billion commitment is pretty significant, but it’s even more so, considering MIT officials say this one will allow a historic reshaping of the school. They’ve already raised $650 million of the total needed, anchored by a $350 million donation from billionaire financier (and frequent Trump advisor) Stephen Schwarzman to establish a new College of Computing that will bear his name. That will include a new building serving as a hub for computer science, AI and data science, but the focus will reach into all of MIT’s existing schools.
“[T]he College will equip students and researchers in any discipline to use computing and AI to advance their disciplines and vice-versa, as well as to think critically about the human impact of their work,” the announcement states.
That’s putting a big bet on the pervasive future of computing, and one that was informed in part by the fact that 40 percent of MIT undergrads are majoring in, or pursuing a joint major that includes computer science.
AI Explosion
MIT’s decision shows just how much artificial intelligence and computing have become a part of our vision of the future—or at least donors’ visions of the future. We’ve been covering the wave of large donations related to artificial intelligence in recent years, and before that, the big surge in gifts for campus data science centers.
That’s included a lot of alumni trying to get their beloved schools up to speed. But it’s also manifested in university-corporate partnerships with Google, Uber and car companies getting cozy with schools and their rising pools of talent. And then there’s the particularly fascinating trend of tech donors making donations to inform ethical and safe application of AI in society....MUCH MORE
