Databricks Co-founder Launches $100M AI Research Institute at Berkeley

Andy Konwinski, co-founder of Databricks and Perplexity, has committed $100 million of his personal wealth to establish the Laude Institute, a new AI research funding organization aimed at accelerating impactful, nonpartisan AI research. The institute operates more like a grant-making fund than a traditional lab, providing fast-track 'Slingshots' grants for early-stage projects and larger 'Moonshots' funding for ambitious, long-term challenges in areas such as scientific discovery, civic discourse, healthcare, and workforce re-skilling. Its flagship grant allocates $3 million annually for five years to support the AI Systems Lab being established at UC Berkeley, which will be led by Ion Stoica, a prominent figure behind Databricks and Anyscale. The Laude Institute is governed by a board of esteemed leaders including Dave Patterson, Jeff Dean, and Joelle Pineau, reflecting its commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration and guiding AI research toward beneficial societal outcomes. Konwinski emphasizes that the institute is built by and for computer science researchers to move ideas from academic papers to impactful products at startup speed, filling gaps left by slower traditional funding mechanisms. The institute’s public-benefit corporation structure ensures that any commercial benefits are reinvested to support ethical and equitable AI development.