Netflix Co-Founder Reed Hastings Donates $50 Million to Bowdoin College for AI and Humanity Initiative

Netflix's Hastings Gives $50 Million to Bowdoin for AI Program

Billionaire Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix Inc., is donating $50 million to his alma mater Bowdoin College, one of the richest US liberal-arts colleges, to create an initiative for artificial intelligence and humanity. The gift -- the largest since the Maine college was founded in 1794 -- won't develop AI technology but rather will be used to provide "a step forward in higher education's growing role to provide ethical frameworks for technology and will ensure that Bowdoin students graduate well-prepared to lead in a world reshaped by AI," the school said in a statement Monday.

Reed Hastings Just Gave $50 Million to Boost AI Safety Research, and We Should All Pay Attention

Hastings just donated $50 million to his alma mater Bowdoin College, a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine, to help create a research institute focused on "AI and Humanity." As well as "helping students grapple with" emerging AI tech, the institute will tackle questions about the impact AI will have on work and relationships, the New York Times reported. According to an interview Hastings gave, he's concerned about revolutionary potential of AI: "We're going to be fighting for the survival of humanity and the flourishing of humanity," he said, comparing it to the way social networking has completely changed how humans interact, and how it grew so fast it outpaced people's efforts to understand the impact it would have. AI will "will be much bigger than the social networking change," Hastings said. Essentially the CEO is concerned that we're not working hard enough to investigate AI's potential downsides even as tech leaders across the world race to develop more sophisticated AI models, and get these tools into the workplace.

'We're Going to Be Fighting for the Survival of Humanity': Netflix Co-Founder Donates $50 Million to Alma Mater for AI Initiative

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings has donated $50 million to Bowdoin College to fund artificial intelligence initiatives, the Maine-based school announced Monday. "This donation seeks to advance Bowdoin's mission of cultivating wisdom for the common good by deepening the College's engagement with one of humanity's most transformative developments: artificial intelligence," Hastings said in a statement. Related: 'We're Going to Be Their Boss': Meta's Chief AI Scientist Says Humans Won't Let Superintelligent AI Get Out of Control Hastings, 64, graduated from Bowdoin with a degree in mathematics in 1983. He then earned a master's degree in artificial intelligence in 1988 at Stanford University. The New York Times reports the donation is the biggest gift the school has received since it was founded in 1794. The money will help hire 10 new faculty members and support a range of AI learning investments, including developing and incorporating new curricula, hosting events, and running workshops on artificial intelligence and how it will affect "the future of humanity." Related: How to Hire Like Netflix -- 'This Is a Completely Different Way of Thinking About Human Capital' Bowdoin President Safa Zaki said that as AI advances, it will be important to ask questions like what we "value in human cognition" and what we "want our AI systems to do -- or not do -- in service to humanity." Hastings warned that the time to start asking these questions is now. "We're going to be fighting for the survival of humanity and the flourishing of humanity," Hastings told the New York Times. "The AI change, I think, will be much bigger than the social networking change," Hastings added. "So it's important to get started early before we're overwhelmed by the problems." Hastings co-founded Netflix in 1997 and spent 25 years as CEO. He is still at the company, serving as executive chairman, and has a net worth of around $6.61 billion, per Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Reed Hastings Gives Bowdoin $50 Million to Ponder the Soul of A.I.

Netflix's co-founder returns to his liberal arts roots with a record-breaking gift aimed at teaching students to think twice before teaching A.I. to think for them. While attending Bowdoin College in the 1980s as an undergraduate student, a conversation with the late mathematics professor Steve Fisk convinced Reed Hastings, co-founder and chairman of Netflix (NFLX), to study the then-nascent field of A.I. Now, four decades later, Hastings is giving back to his alma mater with a $50 million gift that will establish a program dedicated to studying the breakthrough technology's ethics. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters "Steve was about 40 years too early, but his perspective was life-changing for me," said Hastings in a statement. His funds will support the newly created Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity, a program set to "empower students and faculty to critically examine, thoughtfully utilize, and ethically shape A.I.'s trajectory," added the billionaire. The gift is the largest in Bowdoin's 231-year history. In keeping with the Brunswick, Maine school's liberal arts bend, Hastings' program will emphasize researching A.I.'s impact on ethics, norms and humanity. Initial priorities include hiring ten new faculty members, supporting current teachers looking to infuse their work with the new technology and hosting workshops on A.I.'s uses and challenges. The college's cross-disciplinary approach towards A.I. research is made evident by the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity's advisory committee, which mixes digital and computational professors with experts in anthropology, philosophy, economics, natural sciences and even Romance languages. "Our deep commitment to the liberal arts and the common good position us to think together about what we are going to value in human cognition and what we will want our AI systems to do -- or not do -- going forward in service to humanity," said Safa Zaki, Bowdoin's president, in a statement. A.I. initiatives, programs and degrees have become increasingly pervasive in higher education since the technology shot into public consciousness following the 2022 release of OpenAI's ChatGPT. Schools like Arizona State University have directly partnered with OpenAI to integrate A.I. tools into their coursework, while the University of Pennsylvania last year made history as the first Ivy League to offer an undergraduate degree -- and subsequent master's degree -- dedicated to the technology. A.I.-related undergraduate and master's degree conferrals in the U.S. have risen by 120 percent since 2011, according to a 2023 report from Georgetown University. Hastings, who co-founded Netflix in 1997, is best known for his 25-year reign as the streamer's former chief executive. But the media entrepreneur also has an avid interest in educational reform. In addition to serving on the California State Board of Education between 2000 and 2004, Hastings is currently a board member for educational organizations like KIPP and Pahara. His interest in higher education extends to his philanthropic record, which is spotted with innovative and historic donations to universities. In 2020, for example, he gifted $120 million to Spelman College, Morehouse College and the United Negro College Fund in what then constituted the largest-ever individual gift to HBCUs. Three years later, a $20 million donation was granted to Minerva University, a college that offers virtual learning to students traveling across seven countries. Education also played a large role in the nearly $1.6 billion worth of donations doled out by Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin last year, a figure that landed them among America's top donors in 2024.

Netflix's Reed Hastings gives $50 million to Bowdoin for AI program

Reed Hastings, Netflix cofounder, has donated $50 million to Bowdoin College to create an "AI and Humanity" research initiative. The programme aims to explore AI's societal impact, ethical frameworks, and risks. Hastings stresses the urgency of studying AI's potential to disrupt human norms and interactions, encouraging deep research.Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings wants more researchers and students to ask deep questions about artificial intelligence and its potential to upend human norms. To that end, Hastings has donated $50 million to Bowdoin College, his alma mater, to create a research initiative on "AI and Humanity" -- the largest gift to the liberal arts college in Maine since its founding in 1794, the school announced Monday. The aim of the program, Hastings and school officials said, is to make Bowdoin a mecca for studying the risks and consequences of AI. The initiative also aims to help prepare students to grapple with emerging technologies that can manufacture humanlike texts and even produce formulas for potential new drug compounds. The idea for the program grew out of discussions over the last few months between Hastings and Bowdoin's president, Safa R. Zaki, a cognitive scientist, they said. Bowdoin plans to use part of the money to hire 10 faculty members and to support professors "who want to incorporate and interrogate AI" in their teaching and research. In an interview, Hastings said it was urgent for more researchers to tackle such questions because of the speed of AI advances and the significant disruptions the systems could bring to human endeavors like work and relationships. "We're going to be fighting for the survival of humanity and the flourishing of humanity," Hastings said. He compared AI to social networks, noting that social networking had grown so fast that few people initially understood the changes it might bring to human interactions and behavior. "The AI change, I think, will be much bigger than the social networking change," Hastings added. "So it's important to get started early before we're overwhelmed by the problems." Zaki said she hoped Bowdoin faculty members and students would study fundamental questions about AI and come up with ethical frameworks for their use. "What does it mean to have a technology that consumes so much power? What does it mean to have a technology that may widen inequities in society?" Zaki asked. "We have a moral imperative, as educators, to take this on, to confront AI." Hundreds of millions of people have begun using AI for tasks such as finding information, producing emails and generating computer code. Developers of such tools say even more powerful AI systems are poised to radically alter daily life. Some prominent Silicon Valley leaders have promoted rosy visions of an AI-driven future. The new initiative at Bowdoin, where Hastings received a bachelor's degree in 1983, is aimed at more concretely studying how AI might alter society, for better or for worse. Hastings said he hoped the new program would also help ensure that the technology's development served and benefited people. "I'm an extreme techno-optimist and view most of human progress as technology progress on one side and moral-ethical systems on the other side," he said. "The tech progress is moving ahead very nicely. Our moral-ethical system improvements need some bolstering."

Netflix's Reed Hastings Donates $50M to Launch AI and Humanity Initiative at Bowdoin College

'The Danish Woman' Star Trine Dyrholm Doesn't Judge Her Characters - or People Netflix chairman and co-founder Reed Hastings has donated $50 million to launch the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity at Bowdoin College in Maine at a time when artificial intelligence continues to be a hot-button issue. The largest gift in the college's 231-year history will be "a step forward in Bowdoin's growing engagement in this breakthrough technology and ensure that students graduate well-prepared to lead in a world reshaped by AI," it said. "Funding and fellowships will allow current and new faculty to explore the pedagogical and scholarship opportunities - and challenges - generated by the vast AI revolution." Initial priorities include hiring 10 new faculty members in a range of disciplines; supporting current faculty who want to incorporate and interrogate AI in their teaching, research, and other work; and conversations about the uses of AI and the changes and challenges it will bring, including workshops, symposia, and support for student research. "This donation seeks to advance Bowdoin's mission of cultivating wisdom for the common good by deepening the college's engagement with one of humanity's most transformative developments: artificial intelligence," said Hastings, who followed his graduation from Bowdoin in 1983 by earning his MSc in artificial intelligence at Stanford University. "Just as Bowdoin's mission emphasizes the formation of complete individuals who can navigate a world in flux, this initiative will empower students and faculty to critically examine, thoughtfully utilize, and ethically shape AI's trajectory." Bowdoin president Safa Zaki, whose research focuses on building and testing computational models of mind, emphasized that a world recast by AI needs an infusion of humanity. "Bowdoin is ideally positioned to meet the challenges and opportunities of AI," she said. "Our deep commitment to the liberal arts and the common good position us to think together about what we are going to value in human cognition, and what we will want our AI systems to do - or not do - going forward in service to humanity." Concluded Zaki: "Ethics, human values, and human understanding inform the technological progress, scientific advancements, and new norms that will emerge from this revolution."