Databricks Founder Pledges $100M AI Research Fund

New AI Research Institute Launched by Databricks Co-founder

Andy Konwinski, a prominent computer scientist and co-founder of both Databricks and Perplexity, revealed on Monday the establishment of Laude, a new AI research institute. This initiative is being supported by a personal investment of $100 million from Konwinski himself.

Laude Institute: A Unique Funding Model

The Laude Institute operates distinctively, functioning less as a traditional AI research laboratory and more as a grant-making fund. Its board of directors includes influential figures in the field, such as UC Berkeley professor Dave Patterson, Google’s chief scientist Jeff Dean, and Meta’s vice president of AI Research, Joelle Pineau.

First Grant Awarded to UC Berkeley

The institute has announced its inaugural, and “flagship,” grant. A $3 million annual allocation will be provided over five years to establish the new AI Systems Lab at UC Berkeley.

This new lab will be spearheaded by Ion Stoica, a highly respected researcher and the current director of the Sky Computing Lab at Berkeley. Stoica is also a co-founder of Anyscale and Databricks, both companies originating from technology developed within Berkeley’s research ecosystem.

Focus on Beneficial AI Outcomes

Konwinski articulated the institute’s core mission in a blog post, stating it is “built by and for computer science researchers.” He emphasized a commitment to catalyzing work that not only advances the field but also steers it toward more advantageous results.

Addressing Concerns About Commercialization

This mission subtly addresses concerns regarding the increasing commercialization of AI research. Some organizations, like OpenAI, initially founded as research facilities, have become heavily focused on commercial pursuits.

Other researchers have also faced scrutiny, such as Epoch, which revealed OpenAI’s support in creating an AI benchmark used to promote its o3 model. Epoch’s founder subsequently launched a startup aiming to replace human workers with AI agents.

A Hybrid Structure for Research and Investment

Konwinski has adopted a hybrid organizational structure, combining a nonprofit entity with a public benefit corporation. This approach aims to balance research integrity with potential commercial applications.

"Slingshots" and "Moonshots" Research Investments

Research investments are categorized into two distinct streams: “Slingshots” and “Moonshots.” Slingshots support early-stage research benefiting from grants and direct assistance.

Moonshots focus on long-term challenges, including AI applications for scientific discovery, improving civic discourse, enhancing healthcare, and facilitating workforce re-skilling.

Collaboration and Benchmarking

The institute has already engaged in collaborative efforts, such as working with “terminal-bench,” a Stanford-led benchmark assessing AI agent task handling, utilized by Anthropic.

Laude: Beyond Research Grants

It’s important to note that Laude encompasses more than just a grant-writing research institute. Konwinski also co-founded a for-profit venture fund in 2024.

This fund is co-led by former NEA VC Pete Sonsini and boasts over 50 leading researchers as limited partners (LPs). Laude previously led a $12 million investment in Arcade, an AI agent infrastructure startup, and has made other undisclosed investments.

Seeking Additional Funding

While Konwinski has initially committed $100 million, Laude is actively seeking and receptive to investment from other successful technologists.

Konwinski’s substantial wealth stems from the success of Databricks, which secured a $15.3 billion funding round in January, valuing the company at $62 billion. Perplexity also recently achieved a $14 billion valuation.

The Need for Independent AI Research

The question arises: is another AI research organization truly necessary? The answer is both no and yes.

AI research has become increasingly complex, with numerous benchmarks designed to showcase the superiority of specific vendor models. Even companies like Salesforce have developed their own LLM benchmarks tailored to their CRM solutions.

A Potential Alternative

An alliance featuring figures like Konwinski, Dean, and Stoica, dedicated to genuinely independent research with the potential to evolve into beneficial commerce, presents a compelling alternative.

Note: This article has been updated to include further details regarding the Laude VC fund.