Mozilla will invest $30 million in the startup.

Mozilla, the non-profit organization behind the popular Firefox web browser, is investing $30 million to create a startup and community called Mozilla.ai, focused on building a trustworthy, independent, and open-source AI ecosystem.

The goal is to develop AI technology that prioritizes transparency, accountability, and human agency. Mozilla.ai will also serve as a community space for founders, developers, scientists, product managers, and builders who share this vision to gather and collaborate. (blog.mozilla.org)

The company’s initial focus will be on developing tools that make generative AI safer and more transparent, as well as people-centric recommendation systems that don’t misinform or undermine users’ well-being.

“The AI inflection point that we’re in right now offers a real opportunity to build technology with different values, new incentives and a better ownership model,” Mozilla said in its announcement.

“Some people are starting to do things differently, but the most significant work (and investment) is happening the same old way.”

“We don’t see this happening amongst the big tech and cloud companies with the most power and influence,” it said in a swipe at companies such as Microsoft and Google. “Meanwhile, these incumbents continue to consolidate their control over the market.”

Mozilla.ai’s managing director will be Moez Draief, an academic and chief scientist in industry who has spent over a decade working on cutting-edge AI applications. The company’s initial board will include Harvard’s Karim Lakhani, Credo’s Navrina Singh, and Mark Surman from Mozilla.

The company plans to announce additional initiatives, partners, and events later this year, and is inviting collaboration from anyone interested in building a trustworthy, independent, and open-source AI ecosystem.

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay (Text added)