{"id":1561546,"date":"2025-06-24T17:34:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T21:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observer.com\/?p=1561546"},"modified":"2025-06-25T15:05:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T19:05:41","slug":"perplexity-co-founder-andy-konwinski-launches-100m-ai-institute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/06\/perplexity-co-founder-andy-konwinski-launches-100m-ai-institute\/","title":{"rendered":"Perplexity AI and Databricks Co-Founder Andy Konwinski Launches $100M A.I. Institute"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1561575\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1561575\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-1561575\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?w=970\" alt=\"Bearded man in black T-shirt pictured outside window \" width=\"970\" height=\"647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png 2999w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=635,423 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=970,647 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=320,213 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=1920,1280 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?resize=50,33 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1561575\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andy Konwinski at Laude Institute&#8217;s Inaugural Ship Your Research Summit in San Francisco on June 18. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo by Marc Fong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-start=\"107\" data-end=\"465\">Before co-founding A.I. companies like Perplexity AI, Andy Konwinski was a Ph.D. student in computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. It was there that he helped develop Apache Spark, an open-source data processing engine that laid the groundwork for Databricks, now one of Silicon Valley\u2019s top A.I. companies.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"467\" data-end=\"911\">Berkeley was also the birthplace of his latest and most personal project: the Laude Institute, a new research organization built by and for computer scientists. Backed by $100 million of Konwinski\u2019s own funding, the institute aims to support research with the potential for broad, positive impact. \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.laude.org\/updates\/hello-world\" data-lasso-id=\"2787640\">This is the most personal project of my life<\/a>, and it&#8217;s been a long time coming,\u201d Konwinski wrote in a blog post announcing the launch on June 23.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"913\" data-end=\"1318\">The founding team includes technologists Chris Rytting, K. Tighe, Justin Fiedler and Lindsey Gregory. The institute&#8217;s board also features prominent figures in tech, including Turing Award winner David Patterson; Jeff Dean, chief scientist at Google DeepMind; and Joelle Pineau, former head of A.I. research at Meta. While Konwinski is the primary funder, additional support from others is expected.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1561560\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1561560\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1561560\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"Six people standing outside building posing by marble columns \" width=\"970\" height=\"688\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg 2704w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=300,213 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=768,545 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=635,451 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=1536,1090 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=2048,1453 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=970,688 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=320,227 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=1920,1363 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=50,35 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload size-full-width wp-image-1561560\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"Six people standing outside building posing by marble columns \" width=\"970\" height=\"688\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg 2704w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=300,213 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=768,545 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=635,451 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=1536,1090 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=2048,1453 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=970,688 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=320,227 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=1920,1363 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Founding-Team.jpg?resize=50,35 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 135px, 200px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1561560\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Laude Institute&#8217;s founding team Lindsey Gregory, Pete Sonsini, Alex Shaw, Chris Rytting, K. Tighe, David Patterson, Andy Konwinski, Justin Fiedler <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo by Luke Beard<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>What will the Laude Institute fund? Slingshots, Moonshots<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"105\" data-end=\"519\">The Laude Institute is launching with two flagship initiatives aimed at accelerating impactful A.I. research. The first, called Slingshots, offers fast-track grants to support early-stage projects. In partnership with researchers at Stanford University, Slingshots has already backed an A.I. agent benchmark that was later cited by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei following the release of the Claude 4 model in May.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"521\" data-end=\"899\">The second initiative, Moonshots, will provide larger-scale funding for labs tackling some of the field\u2019s most ambitious challenges. Focus areas include scientific discovery, civic discourse, healthcare and workforce re-skilling. The institute plans to award two $250,000 seed grants in each category and scale up promising efforts into multi-year, multimillion-dollar labs.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"901\" data-end=\"1354\">Beyond applied A.I., Konwinski\u2019s institute will also invest in what he calls \u201cfoundational work that advances computing itself.\u201d Its first major grant in this area will provide $3 million annually over five years to establish a new A.I. lab at the University of California, Berkeley. The AI Systems Lab, expected to open by 2027, will be led by a team of prominent researchers including Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Joey Gonzalez and Raluca-Ada Popa.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"102\" data-end=\"568\">Konwinski\u2019s past ventures in A.I. have been highly successful. In 2022, he co-founded Perplexity AI, the A.I.-powered search engine now valued at $14 billion. More than a decade earlier, he helped launch Databricks, which reached a $62 billion valuation earlier this year. In 2024, he also founded Laude Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage tech startups, and introduced a <a target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.laude.org\/updates\/hello-world\" data-lasso-id=\"2787641\">$1 million prize<\/a> to encourage innovation around an A.I. coding benchmark.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"570\" data-end=\"900\">With the Laude Institute, Konwinski aims to create a platform that funds, convenes and elevates the work of computer scientists. \u201cFor years, I\u2019ve wanted to build something that would help more researchers take that journey from idea to impact,\u201d he said. \u201cOur goal is simple: get more world-changing research into people\u2019s hands.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Laude Institute will offer grants, labs and infrastructure to empower computer scientists solving real-world A.I. problems.<\/p>\n <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/06\/perplexity-co-founder-andy-konwinski-launches-100m-ai-institute\/\">Read 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Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly","display_channel":"","thumbnail":"<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1&amp;quality=80\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"Bearded man in black T-shirt pictured outside window\" decoding=\"async\" \/><noscript><img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/Laude-Institute-Andy-Konwinski.png?w=300&amp;h=225&amp;crop=1&amp;quality=80\" class=\"lazyload attachment-grid-thumbnail size-grid-thumbnail\" alt=\"Bearded man in black T-shirt pictured outside window\" decoding=\"async\" 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Laude Institute will offer grants, labs and infrastructure to empower computer scientists solving real-world A.I. problems.\r\n","is_sponsored":false,"formatted_date":"Jun 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