Andy Konwinski, a distinguished computer scientist and co-founder of prominent AI companies Databricks and Perplexity, has announced the establishment of a new AI research institute named Laude. Backed by a substantial personal pledge of $100 million from Konwinski, the Laude Institute is designed to function more as a philanthropic fund making investments akin to grants, rather than a traditional research laboratory.

The institute's board boasts an impressive lineup of academic and industry leaders, including UC Berkeley professor Dave Patterson, celebrated for his award-winning research; Jeff Dean, Google’s chief scientist; and Joelle Pineau, Meta’s vice president of AI Research. This assembly of influential figures underscores Laude’s commitment to high-caliber research and its ambitious goals within the AI landscape.

Laude Institute has already made its inaugural and "flagship" grant, committing $3 million annually for five years. This significant funding will serve as the cornerstone for the new AI Systems Lab at UC Berkeley, slated to open in 2027. This cutting-edge lab will be under the directorship of Ion Stoica, one of Berkeley's most esteemed researchers and the current director of the Sky Computing Lab. Stoica also has a notable history as a co-founder of the AI and Python platform startup Anyscale and the big data company Databricks, both of which emerged from technological advancements originating within Berkeley’s lab system. The new AI Systems Lab is poised to attract a number of other renowned researchers alongside Stoica.

In his official blog post announcing the institute, Konwinski articulated Laude's core mission: "built by and for computer science researchers … We exist to catalyze work that doesn’t just push the field forward but guides it towards more beneficial outcomes." This statement, while not explicitly criticizing any specific entity, subtly contrasts with the evolving trajectories of some AI research facilities, such as OpenAI, which began with a research focus but has increasingly become dominated by its commercial ventures. The institute's structure, a nonprofit with a public benefit corporation operating arm, reflects Konwinski's strategic approach to navigate the blurred lines between pure research and commercial interests, a challenge faced by many contemporary AI organizations where the lure of financial gains can influence research integrity, as seen in controversies like Epoch’s relationship with OpenAI.

Konwinski has categorized his research investments into two distinct types: "Slingshots" and "Moonshots." Slingshots are designated for early-stage research projects that can benefit from grant funding and hands-on assistance, aiming to provide initial impetus to promising ideas. Moonshots, as their name suggests, represent initiatives focused on "long-horizon labs tackling species-level challenges," encompassing critical domains such as AI for scientific discovery, civic discourse, healthcare advancements, and workforce re-skilling. An example of Laude's collaborative efforts includes its partnership with "terminal-bench," a Stanford-led benchmark designed to evaluate the proficiency of AI agents in handling various tasks, a tool actively utilized by companies like Anthropic.

It is important to note that Konwinski's "Laude" endeavors extend beyond just the grant-making research institute. In 2024, he also co-founded a separate for-profit venture fund with Pete Sonsini, a former NEA venture capitalist. A spokesperson for Laude confirmed that this fund has garnered support from over 50 leading researchers who serve as Limited Partners (LPs). TechCrunch previously reported on Laude's significant lead in a $12 million investment round for Arcade, an AI agent infrastructure startup, and it has also quietly provided backing to other emerging startups. While Konwinski has committed $100 million of his personal fortune to the institute, he is also actively seeking and open to further investment from other successful technologists, underscoring a broader vision for collaborative funding.

Konwinski's substantial wealth, enabling this $100 million pledge, stems from the impressive valuations of his co-founded companies. Databricks closed a $15.3 billion funding round in January, valuing the company at a staggering $62 billion. Similarly, Perplexity secured a $14 billion valuation last month. The establishment of another AI research entity, particularly one with a nuanced nonprofit/commercial structure, prompts a vital question about its necessity in an already crowded and often muddled AI research landscape. With the proliferation of AI benchmarks frequently designed to favor specific vendors' models, exemplified even by Salesforce's LLM benchmark for CRMs, there is a clear demand for truly independent research. An alliance featuring figures like Konwinski, Dean, and Stoica, committed to fostering impartial research that could genuinely evolve into independent, human-beneficial commercial applications, presents a compelling and attractive alternative to the status quo.