Amidst concerns of the US quickly losing ground to China in leading the AI world, MIT has decided to play its role in promoting AI by announcing an ambitious plan of creating an academic program around Artificial Intelligence.
MIT plans to allocate $1 Billion in funding the establishment of a new college that will combine Machine Learning, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence with other disciplines. This is the largest funding in AI by any US institution.
The college based on a $350 million gift from Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone, has been named the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. The college will have a new Dean along with 50 new faculty positions. Schwarzman is known for already donating billions to other institutions for AI-related research.
The college is hoped to bring more AI focused research and encourage investment, particularly from the Government to fund AI research.
“Our hope is that this ambitious initiative serves as a clarion call to our government that massive financial investment in AI is necessary to ensure that America has a leading voice in shaping the future of these powerful and transformative technologies.”
Schwarzman said.
The school will open in September 2019 and will be housed in existing buildings at MIT before moving to its own dedicated space which is expected to be ready in 2022.
