'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 cardinal to Bowdoin College to money artificial intelligence initiatives, the Maine-based schoolhouse announced Monday.

"This aid seeks to beforehand Bowdoin's ngo of cultivating contented for the communal bully by deepening the College's engagement pinch 1 of humanity's astir transformative developments: artificial intelligence," Hastings said successful a statement.

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Hastings, 64, graduated from Bowdoin pinch a grade successful mathematics successful 1983. He past earned a master's degree successful artificial intelligence successful 1988 astatine Stanford University.

The New York Times reports the aid is the biggest gift the schoolhouse has received since it was founded successful 1794.

The money will thief prosecute 10 caller module members and support a scope of AI learning investments, including processing and incorporating caller curricula, hosting events, and moving workshops connected artificial intelligence and really it will impact "the early of humanity."

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Bowdoin President Safa Zaki said that arsenic AI advances, it will beryllium important to inquire questions for illustration what we "value successful quality cognition" and what we "want our AI systems to do — aliases not do — successful work to humanity."

Hastings warned that the clip to commencement asking these questions is now.

"We're going to beryllium fighting for the endurance of humanity and the flourishing of humanity," Hastings told the New York Times.

"The AI change, I think, will beryllium overmuch bigger than the societal networking change," Hastings added. "So it's important to get started early earlier we're overwhelmed by the problems."

Hastings co-founded Netflix successful 1997 and spent 25 years arsenic CEO. He is still astatine the company, serving arsenic executive chairman, and has a nett worthy of astir $6.61 billion, per Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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