OpenAI Launches $50M NextGenAI Consortium to Advance AI Research and Education

OpenAI launches $50M NextGenAI consortium to fund AI-based research and education

Bottom line: OpenAI has faced repeated accusations of exploiting content creators, journalists, and researchers to fuel its for-profit empire built on AI models prone to hallucinations. Now, the San Francisco-based company is attempting to repair its tarnished reputation by committing millions to a new funding initiative aimed at putting its technology to more positive use. OpenAI recently announced NextGenAI, a new consortium aimed at advancing research and education through AI-driven innovation. The company is committing $50 million from its growing financial reserves to fund leading academic institutions and equip researchers with AI tools to accelerate their workloads. Notably, participants will be encouraged to utilize OpenAI's own products and API technologies. According to OpenAI, NextGenAI marks a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the company and 15 research institutions across the US and the UK. The funding will be allocated toward research grants, computing resources, and API access to OpenAI's AI models, supporting students, educators, and researchers. NextGenAI partners include Caltech, California State University, Duke University, the University of Georgia, Harvard University, Howard University, the University of Mississippi, Ohio State University, Texas A&M, and Boston Children's Hospital, among others. OpenAI partners are already leveraging AI in cutting-edge research initiatives that could revolutionize healthcare and reimagine education. The company highlighted several breakthrough examples, including Ohio State University, which is exploring AI models to advance healthcare, manufacturing, and energy. Meanwhile, Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital are using OpenAI tools to reduce the time required for accurate patient diagnoses. Beyond healthcare, OpenAI envisions a future where libraries and universities are deeply integrated with AI. For instance, the University of Oxford and Boston Public Library are digitizing rare texts and public domain materials using OpenAI's APIs, enabling better transcriptions and expanded access to historical knowledge. Meanwhile, the University of Mississippi is still in the early stages of exploring how AI can enhance education, research, and service. However, OpenAI is also pushing for widespread AI adoption in academia, ensuring that future generations become deeply immersed in its technology. The company openly states its goal of making students and scholars "AI-fluent" - a move that, unsurprisingly, would also boost its own business. The NextGenAI initiative builds upon ChatGPT Edu, a program OpenAI launched in May 2024 to provide expanded access to ChatGPT for educational institutions. While ChatGPT Edu focused primarily on AI-powered chat, NextGenAI takes a broader approach, offering financial support, computing resources, and research tools to scientists, scholars, and students.

OpenAI launches NextGenAI consortium with 15 research institutions and $50M in funding - SiliconANGLE

OpenAI launches NextGenAI consortium with 15 research institutions and $50M in funding OpenAI today announced the launch of NextGenAI, a consortium of 15 leading research institutions dedicated to using artificial intelligence to accelerate research breakthroughs and transform education. The consortium launches with $50 million in funding from OpenAI for research grants, compute funding and application programming interface access to support students, educators and researchers who wish to advance the "frontiers of knowledge." The founding partners of NextGenAI are Caltech, the California State University system, Duke University, the University of Georgia, Harvard University, Howard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, the University of Mississippi, The Ohio State University, the University of Oxford, Sciences Po and Texas A&M University. Also joining the consortium are the Boston Children's Hospital and the Boston Public Library. As partners, each member will use AI to tackle high-impact challenges, from revolutionizing healthcare to reimagining education. Some of the initial projects being funded by the consortium include efforts at Ohio State University to leverage AI in digital health, advanced therapeutics and manufacturing. Researchers are applying AI to accelerate breakthroughs across sectors such as energy, mobility and agriculture. Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital are using OpenAI tools to shorten diagnostic times for rare diseases and improve AI alignment with human values in medical decision-making. Meanwhile, Duke University is pioneering metascience research to identify scientific fields where AI can drive the greatest benefit. On the education front, Texas A&M is leveraging NextGenAI resources to drive a generative AI Literacy Initiative that offers hands-on training for responsible AI usage in academic settings. MIT is giving students and faculty access to OpenAI's API and compute resources to allow them to train, fine-tune and innovate new AI models and Howard University is integrating AI into curricula and operational improvements to provide students with real-world experience and prepare them as future leaders. "The field of AI wouldn't be where it is today without decades of work in the academic community. Continued collaboration is essential to build AI that benefits everyone," said Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer at OpenAI. "NextGenAI will accelerate research progress and catalyze a new generation of institutions equipped to harness the transformative power of AI." The initiative follows previous commitments by OpenAI to supporting education and follows from the May 2024 launch of ChatGPT Edu, a program that gave university-wide access to ChatGPT. "NextGenAI is designed to support the scientist searching for a cure, the scholar uncovering new insights and the student mastering AI for the world ahead," said ChatGPT in its announcement post.

OpenAI Launches NextGenAI Consortium to Drive AI-Powered Research and Education

NextGenAI aims to empower students, educators, and researchers with AI tools. OpenAI announced on Tuesday the launch of NextGenAI, a new consortium comprising 15 research institutions aimed at accelerating scientific breakthroughs and transforming education through artificial intelligence. OpenAI said it is committing USD 50 million in research grants, compute funding, and API access to support students, educators, and researchers with AI tools and knowledge. Also Read: OpenAI Launches GPT-4.5, Announces New Media Partnerships "AI has the power to drive progress in research and education -- but only when people have the right tools to harness it," OpenAI said in a blog post. Quoting the company's post, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on X, "excited for this -- advancing research and education with AI." "This initiative is built not only to fuel the next generation of discoveries but also to prepare the next generation to shape AI's future," OpenAI wrote in a blog post. "NextGenAI is designed to support the scientist searching for a cure, the scholar uncovering new insights, and the student mastering AI for the world ahead...As we learn from this initiative, we'll explore opportunities to expand its reach and impact." NextGenAI's 15 founding partners include Caltech, the California State University system, Duke University, the University of Georgia, Harvard University, Howard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, the University of Mississippi, The Ohio State University, the University of Oxford, Sciences Po, Texas A&M University, as well as Boston Children's Hospital, the Boston Public Library, and OpenAI. Also Read: OpenAI Records 400 Million Active Users, Sees USD 11 Billion Revenue as Possible Goal: Report "The field of AI wouldn't be where it is today without decades of work in the academic community. Continued collaboration is essential to build AI that benefits everyone. NextGenAI will accelerate research progress and catalyze a new generation of institutions equipped to harness the transformative power of AI," said Brad Lightcap, Chief Operating Officer of OpenAI. OpenAI said this initiative expands its commitment to education, following the launch of ChatGPT Edu in May 2024, which enabled university-wide access to ChatGPT. The Ohio State University is leveraging AI to accelerate the fields of digital health, advanced therapeutics, manufacturing, energy, mobility, and agriculture, while educators are using AI to create advanced learning models, OpenAI said. Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital researchers are using OpenAI tools and NextGenAI funding to reduce the time it takes patients to find the right diagnosis, especially for rare orphan diseases, and improve AI alignment with human values in medical decision-making. Duke University scientists are using AI to pioneer metascience research, identifying the fields of science where AI can have the greatest benefit. Texas A&M is using NextGenAI resources to fuel their Generative AI Literacy Initiative, providing hands-on training to enhance the responsible use of AI in academic settings, Highlighted OpenAI. MIT students and faculty will be able to use OpenAI's API and compute funding to train and fine-tune their own AI models and develop new applications. Howard will use AI to develop curricula, experiment with new teaching methods, improve university operations, and give students hands-on AI experience to prepare them as future leaders. AI-powered Universities and Libraries University of Oxford is leveraging AI for a broad research agenda, education, and university operations -- its renowned Bodleian Library is digitizing rare texts and using OpenAI's API to transcribe them, making centuries-old knowledge newly searchable by scholars worldwide. University of Mississippi is exploring new ways to integrate AI into their core mission of education, research, and service, and to advance AI-driven solutions that benefit their students, faculty, and the broader community. Boston Public Library, America's first large free municipal public library, is digitizing public domain materials and using AI to make their information more accessible to patrons from all walks of life, according to OpenAI's blogpost.

OpenAI Introduces a $50M Consortium for AI Research and Education

The blog also shared recent research breakthroughs in AI in universities. OpenAI has announced NextGenAI, a new consortium with 15 leading research institutions to accelerate AI-driven breakthroughs in research and education. "Excited for this-advancing research and education with AI," wrote CEO Sam Altman on X. The company is committing $50 million in funding, compute resources, and API access to support universities, libraries, and hospitals using AI. The blog also shared recent research breakthroughs in AI in universities. The Ohio State University is advancing AI in digital health, manufacturing, energy, mobility, and agriculture. Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital are using AI for medical diagnosis of rare diseases and improving AI alignment in healthcare. Duke University is researching metascience to identify where AI can accelerate scientific progress. Texas A&M University is training students in responsible AI use. MIT is providing API access for students to train and fine-tune AI models. Howard University is integrating AI into curricula, teaching, and university operations. The University of Oxford is digitising rare texts in the Bodleian Library. The Boston Public Library is digitising public domain materials to improve accessibility. NextGenAI reinforces OpenAI's academic partnerships, following the launch of ChatGPT Edu in May 2024. The initiative will equip institutions with advanced AI tools and ensure the technology benefits students, researchers, and educators worldwide.

OpenAI launches $50M grant program to help fund academic research | TechCrunch

OpenAI on Monday said it is supporting a new consortium called NextGenAI that would focus on supporting AI-assisted research at top universities. NextGenAI, whose 15 founding academic partners include Harvard, the University of Oxford and MIT, will be funded with $50 million in research grants, compute funding, and API access from OpenAI, the company said. Students, educators, and researchers will be eligible to receive awards, which will be doled out over the coming months. "This initiative is built not only to fuel the next generation of discoveries, but also to prepare the next generation to shape AI's future," OpenAI wrote in a blog post. "NextGenAI is designed to support the scientist searching for a cure, the scholar uncovering new insights, and the student mastering AI for the world ahead [...] As we learn from this initiative, we'll explore opportunities to expand its reach and impact." The consortium, which OpenAI is positioning as an expanded commitment to education, follows the launch of the company's ChatGPT Edu product for universities last May, and comes at a precarious time for AI research grants in the U.S. In recent weeks, the Trump Administration has reportedly fired a number of National Science Foundation employees who had been handpicked for their expertise in AI, threatening the agency's ability to sustain key AI work. NextGenAI could help advance critical work with AI. However, OpenAI isn't exactly a neutral party in the AI space -- the startup presumably hopes researchers, faculty and students grow accustomed to its AI offerings at the expense of tools from rivals, including open-source alternatives.