Databricks, Perplexity Co-Founder Andy Konwinski Pledges $100M for New Independent AI Research Institute

A New Dawn for Independent AI Research: Andy Konwinski's $100 Million Pledge to Laude Institute

In a significant move poised to reshape the landscape of artificial intelligence research, Andy Konwinski, a computer scientist and co-founder of two highly successful AI companies, Databricks and Perplexity, announced on Monday the formation of a new AI research institute called Laude. Backed by a substantial personal pledge of $100 million from Konwinski himself, Laude Institute is set to operate differently from traditional corporate AI labs, aiming to foster independent research free from immediate commercial pressures.

Konwinski's vision for Laude Institute is less that of a conventional research laboratory conducting in-house experiments and more akin to a philanthropic fund designed to make strategic investments structured similarly to academic grants. This approach is intended to empower researchers to pursue fundamental questions and long-term projects that might not align with the short-term goals often dictated by commercial imperatives.

The credibility and ambition of the Laude Institute are immediately bolstered by the caliber of its founding board members. Joining Konwinski are luminaries in the field: UC Berkeley Professor Dave Patterson, renowned for his foundational contributions to computer architecture and a recipient of numerous prestigious awards; Jeff Dean, Google's chief scientist and a pivotal figure in large-scale computing and AI; and Joelle Pineau, Meta's vice president of AI Research and a respected leader in reinforcement learning and robotics.

Anchoring Research Excellence: The UC Berkeley AI Systems Lab

The inaugural and designated "flagship" grant from Laude Institute underscores its commitment to academic collaboration and foundational research. Konwinski announced a commitment of $3 million per year for five years to anchor a new AI Systems Lab at UC Berkeley. This lab will be led by Professor Ion Stoica, a distinguished figure in computer science and the current director of Berkeley's Sky Computing Lab. Stoica is also deeply embedded in the AI ecosystem, having co-founded the AI and Python platform startup Anyscale and the big data company Databricks, both originating from technologies developed within Berkeley's prolific lab system.

The new AI Systems Lab is slated to open its doors in 2027 and is expected to attract a roster of other well-known researchers, further solidifying its potential as a hub for significant advancements in AI systems.

A Mission for Beneficial Outcomes

In his blog post announcing the institute, Konwinski articulated Laude's core mission: it is "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 carries implicit weight in the current AI landscape, where the rapid commercialization of AI has raised questions about the balance between innovation, profit, and societal well-being.

While not a direct critique of any single entity, Konwinski's framing subtly contrasts with the trajectory of organizations like OpenAI, which began as a non-profit research facility but has increasingly become defined by its enormous commercial operations and pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI).

The pressures of commercialization and the pursuit of funding have, at times, led to controversies within the AI research community. For instance, the AI benchmarking organization Epoch faced criticism when it was revealed that OpenAI had supported the creation of one of its AI benchmarks, which was subsequently used to promote OpenAI's new o3 model. This incident highlighted the potential for conflicts of interest when research validation is tied to commercial funding sources. Furthermore, Epoch's founder also launched a startup with the ambitious and controversial mission to replace all human workers everywhere with AI agents, illustrating the diverse and sometimes contentious directions AI development is taking.

Navigating the Non-Profit/Commercial Divide

Recognizing the complexities of operating in the modern tech ecosystem, Konwinski has structured Laude across traditional boundaries, establishing it as a non-profit entity with a public benefit corporation operating arm. This hybrid structure is intended to allow for both the pursuit of public good through research and the practicalities of managing resources and potentially engaging with commercial applications in a mission-aligned way.

Konwinski plans to divide the institute's research investments into two categories: "Slingshots" and "Moonshots." Slingshots are designed for early-stage research projects that can benefit from direct grants and hands-on support from the institute. Moonshots, as the name suggests, are reserved for "long-horizon labs tackling species-level challenges like AI for scientific discovery, civic discourse, healthcare, and workforce reskilling." This tiered approach allows Laude to support both promising nascent ideas and ambitious, large-scale initiatives aimed at significant societal impact.

Laude Institute has already begun engaging with existing research efforts, collaborating with "terminal-bench," a Stanford-led benchmark designed to evaluate the capability of AI agents in handling complex tasks. This benchmark is notably used by companies like Anthropic, indicating Laude's willingness to engage with and support tools that promote rigorous evaluation in the field.

The Laude Ecosystem: Institute and Venture Fund

It is important to note that Konwinski's endeavors under the Laude name extend beyond the grant-making research institute. He also co-founded a for-profit venture fund, launched in 2024. This fund is co-led by former NEA VC Pete Sonsini and boasts a network of over 50 leading researchers as Limited Partners (LPs). The Laude VC fund has already made notable investments, including leading a $12 million investment in AI agent infrastructure startup Arcade, and has quietly backed other startups as well.

A spokesperson for Laude clarified that while Konwinski has personally pledged $100 million to the institute, he is also actively seeking and open to investment from other successful technologists to further bolster its resources. Konwinski's ability to make such a significant personal commitment stems from the immense success of his previous ventures. Databricks recently closed a $15.3 billion funding round in January, valuing the company at a staggering $62 billion. Perplexity, his AI search startup, also secured a $14 billion valuation last month, highlighting the significant wealth generated in the current AI boom.

The Need for Independent Voices in AI

In a world increasingly saturated with AI initiatives, one might ask whether another AI research organization, particularly one with a somewhat complex non-profit/commercial structure, is truly necessary. The answer, as the article suggests, is both no and yes.

The landscape of AI research has become increasingly complex and, at times, muddled by commercial interests. The proliferation of AI benchmarks, for example, is often driven by vendors seeking to demonstrate the superiority of their specific models, leading to a crowded and potentially biased evaluation environment. Even major companies like Salesforce have developed their own LLM benchmarks tailored to their specific applications, such as CRMs.

In this context, an alliance featuring figures of the stature of Konwinski, Dean, Patterson, Pineau, and Stoica, dedicated to supporting truly independent research, could offer a vital alternative. Research fostered in such an environment, driven by scientific inquiry rather than immediate market demands, has the potential to yield breakthroughs that are not only technically innovative but also aligned with broader human-centric goals. While the line between independent research and potential commercial applications can be blurry – as evidenced by Laude's affiliated VC fund – the stated mission and the grant-based structure of the institute represent a deliberate effort to prioritize foundational exploration and beneficial outcomes.