Google has launched the Digital Futures Project to support its objective of deploying the best artificial intelligence technologies in Europe.
According to Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google, the project underscores the company’s conviction that Europe has a big role to play in advancing the future of AI.
Delivering his speech at the European Business Summit on Tuesday, Walker said the region’s technological advancements can help harness emerging technologies such as AI.
Google.org, the tech giant’s philanthropic arm, will commit $5.4 million to start a fund that would support nonprofit think tanks, civil society organizations and academic institutions in the continent.
The company has already selected the first batch of grantees, including Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques in France, Progressives Zentrum in Germany, the CEPS think tank in Belgium, and the OdiseIA network that operates in northern and southern Europe.
According to Walker, the participants will research, analyze and promote discussions on public policy solutions to facilitate the development and deployment of the best possible AI capabilities.
The work will focus on AI’s effects on the workforce and the economy and how the technology could accelerate innovation in the region, he added.
The grantees will also formulate ways for the government and the industry to enable research on responsible AI.
Most importantly, the project will seek the best method of providing the public with easy access to AI while ensuring that vulnerable groups are protected from risks associated with the technology, Walker said.