MIT Announces $1 Billion USD Plan to Establish an AI College

MIT just announced the founding of a billion dollar AI college on their campus.

As world-renowned tech universities race towards computing excellence, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is about to pump up its game. On Monday, MIT announced a $1 billion USD plan to establish an AI college to further explore the opportunities as well as challenges presented by computing and the rise of artificial intelligence.

The initiative is the largest computing and AI investment by an academic institution in the United States to date. The new college will be called the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing in honor of Blackstone CEO and founder Stephen A. Schwarzman who donated $350 million USD to the project.

According to MIT News, the AI college will be an “an interdisciplinary hub for work in computer science, AI, data science, and related fields” that will:

Bring the power of computing and AI to all fields of study at MIT.
Create 50 new faculty positions that will be located both within the College and jointly with other departments across MIT.
Give MIT’s five schools a shared structure for collaborative education, research, and innovation in computing and AI.
Educate students in every discipline to responsibly use and develop AI and computing technologies to help make a better world.
Transform education and research in public policy and ethical considerations relevant to computing and AI.

“In keeping with the scope of this challenge, we are reshaping MIT. The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will constitute both a global center for computing research and education, and an intellectual foundry for powerful new AI tools,” L. Rafael Reif, president of MIT, said.

“Just as important, the 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. With uncommon insight and generosity, Mr. Schwarzman is enabling a bold agenda that will lead to a better world. I am deeply grateful for his commitment to our shared vision.”

MIT’s new AI college is set to be launched in September 2019. The college has already secured an additional $300 million USD for the project through other fundraising initiatives.