Google CEO Sundar Pichai announces $120M fund for global AI education

Speaking Saturday at the UN Summit of the Future, Google CEO Sundar Pichai described AI as “the most transformative technology yet” and announced a new fund for AI education and training around the world.

Pichai pointed to four broad opportunities he sees for AI and sustainable development, according to a transcript of his prepared remarks — helping people access information in their own language, accelerating scientific discovery, providing alerts and tracking around climate disasters, and fueling economic progress.

Pichai acknowledged that AI also presents risks, for example with deep fakes, though he didn’t mention AI’s impact on the climate.

He added that he wants to avoid a global “AI divide” that mirrors the current digital divide. So Google is creating a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund through which the company will “make AI education and training available in communities around the world,” provided in local languages, in partnership with local nonprofits and NGOs.

On the same theme, Pichai called for “smart product regulation that mitigates harms and resists national protectionist impulses” — otherwise, he predicted regulation could “widen an AI divide and limit AI’s benefits.”