Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL) has announced on Monday that it will pledge $25 million towards a new global initiative seeking to use artificial intelligence (AI) for humanitarian and environmental efforts. The contest, titled the “AI Impact Challenge,” is intended to encourage nonprofits, universities, and other organizations to develop AI that will benefit society.
According to Google’s official statement, the AI Impact Challenge will select organizations and offer them with “customized support” from Google in the form of “coaching from Google’s AI experts, Google.org grant funding… credit and consulting from Google Cloud, and more.”
Applying @GoogleAI expertise to projects with positive societal impact, today we’re announcing our AI for Social Good program.
Organizations can now apply to the Google AI Impact Challenge, a $25M @Googleorg open call for innovative ideas.
— BOO-gle 🎃 (@Google) October 29, 2018
Google has maintained a long-standing reputation for seeking to use AI in positive ways. In June, CEO Sundar Pichai published a detailed statement regarding the company’s principles on AI development. Some key principles outlined in the statement included creating AI technologies that “avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias” and are “socially beneficial.” Earlier this month, the tech giant withdrew from a $10 billion Pentagon contract seeking help from companies to develop AI technologies used by the Defense Department, stating that it disagreed with the DOD’s intentions on AI usage.
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