Google, DeepMind launch institute to explore AGI
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The DeepMind Institute launched Wednesday seeks to provide a forum for Google, DeepMind and outside researchers to tackle the biggest questions around artificial general intelligence's impacts on society, according to an announcement shared with Axios.
Why it matters: The institute — led by Shane Legg as Managing Editor alongside Google SVP James Manyika and DeepMind Chair Demis Hassabis — aims to make complex academic research accessible to the public and highlight the diversity of perspectives.
Driving the news: The institute launched with inaugural publications exploring economic policy for AGI, model reasoning transparency, global access, and human flourishing.
- An introductory essay from Hassabis, Manyika and Legg notes that Google, Google DeepMind and the broader global research community "will not always agree, and they will likely change their minds, as more data and information comes to light at the fast-moving frontier."
- The institute was created "because broad-based intellectual discussion and debate are required to arrive at a consensus about how to address the challenges and opportunities we face as a society," they add.
The big picture: The institute comes as calls for international collaboration on AI reach a fever pitch — including with the U.S.' biggest adversary.
- "Humanity has to be a part of this. I don't know how we think about safety and responsibility on a country-by-country basis. This is a global technology that will be used by everybody," Manyika said in an interview.
- "AI is going to drive all kinds of advances in science, and science is an international thing," Legg said. "If some scientific breakthrough happens in China or it happens in Japan or the U.S. or wherever — this is a global community advancing the frontier in science."
