Articles about Allen Institute for AI

Seattle’s AI2 Incubator rebrands as AI House, and adds key investor as managing director

The incubator was founded in 2014 inside the Allen Institute for AI — the Seattle research institute created by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen — long before artificial intelligence became a household term. Its mission has been to help founders with the early work of company building. Read More

Ai2’s Skylight project launches ‘Shippy,’ an AI agent that dives into ocean data

Seattle’s Allen Institute for AI has launched Shippy, a free AI agent built on its Skylight ocean-monitoring platform that answers maritime analysts’ plain-language questions using live vessel-tracking and satellite data. Read More

Etzioni on AI: The Pope can talk, but only we can walk

In a guest op-ed, AI researcher and UW professor emeritus Oren Etzioni responds to Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical on AI, arguing that moral pronouncements — however eloquent — accomplish little unless people change their own behavior. Read More

CEO of Paul Allen’s $3.1B science and tech fund steps down less than a year after launch

Dr. Lynda Stuart is departing as the first CEO of the Fund for Science and Technology, the foundation created under late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s instructions. The change comes amid broader shifts in the Allen philanthropic ecosystem, including the departures of top AI researchers from the Allen Institute for AI. Read More

Etzioni on AI: Don’t let the OpenAI soap opera hide the precedent

Computer scientist and AI industry veteran Oren Etzioni argues that OpenAI’s nonprofit-to-for-profit conversion sets a dangerous precedent for American charity law, and that the real reckoning will have to come from Washington, not the Oakland courtroom. Read More

Microsoft adds more former Ai2 researchers, bolstering its Superintelligence team

At least 10 former Allen Institute for AI staffers and researchers have joined Microsoft’s Superintelligence team, including the core of the institute’s OLMo open-source model effort. The departures come amid a shift in Ai2’s funding toward applied uses of AI. Read More

Tech Moves: Microsoft AI leader jumps to OpenAI; former AI2 exec joins Meta; and more

A senior director of AI at Microsoft left to join OpenAI; a former AI2 leader has taken a role at Meta and other Pacific Northwest tech moves. Read More

Allen Institute for AI launches big computing cluster for $152M project backed by Nvidia and NSF

Ai2 says it has started using a new Nvidia-powered computing system funded through a $152 million NSF and Nvidia project to build open AI models for scientific research. The milestone comes as the Seattle nonprofit works to regain its footing after losing key researchers to Microsoft. Read More

Podcast

AI, fungi, and the future of enterprise tech: Industry vet Bill Hilf on his debut novel, ‘The Disruption’

A new sci-fi thriller from enterprise technology veteran and Ai2 board chair Bill Hilf imagines an AI built on living biology that escapes human control. Underneath the plot: an argument that the industry is thinking about AI the wrong way. Read More

Ai2 releases open-source web agent to rival closed systems from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic

The Allen Institute for AI is releasing MolmoWeb, an open-source web agent that navigates browsers by interpreting screenshots, offering a transparent alternative to closed systems from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. Read More

Microsoft hires former Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi and key researchers for Suleyman’s AI team

Microsoft is hiring former Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi, along with Hanna Hajishirzi and Ranjay Krishna from the Allen Institute for AI to join Mustafa Suleyman’s Superintelligence team, GeekWire has learned. Former Ai2 COO Sophie Lebrecht is also making the move. Read More

Allen Institute for AI CEO Ali Farhadi steps down as nonprofit navigates shifting AI landscape

Ali Farhadi is stepping down as the CEO of the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), after a two-and-a-half-year tenure that brought growing recognition to the Seattle-based nonprofit research institute as a key player in the world of open source artificial intelligence. Read More

Anthropic acquires Vercept in early exit for one of Seattle’s standout AI startups

Anthropic is acquiring Seattle AI startup Vercept, folding its desktop “computer use” technology and team into Claude as the race to build AI agents that can operate software intensifies. Vercept will shut down its Vy application as part of the deal. Read More

Agents, OpenAI, deepfakes, and the messy reality of the AI boom: A conversation with Oren Etzioni

Computer scientist and entrepreneur Oren Etzioni shares his unvarnished take on AI agents, the platform race, OpenAI, deepfakes, and what good AI leadership looks like, during a conversation at an Accenture-hosted event in Bellevue. Read More

Podcast

Amazon’s big bet, a ‘MySpace for bots,’ and a conversation with AI veteran Oren Etzioni

Amazon bets $200 billion on AI infrastructure, AI agents get their own social network, and AI veteran Oren Etzioni talks agents, startups, deepfakes, and the race between the major AI research labs and big tech platforms. Read More

Ai2 cooks up open-source coding agents with tech equivalent of ‘hot plate and frying pan’

The Seattle nonprofit built its new open-source coding agent with 32 GPUs and five researchers, a fraction of the resources used by big tech companies. Read More

Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi named to ‘AI Power List,’ with a nod to institute’s open-source focus

“From climate modeling to healthcare, Farhadi’s work influences how institutions scale AI for the benefit of humanity,” Business Insider said. Read More

Allen Institute for AI rivals Google, Meta and OpenAI with open-source AI vision model

Ai2 unveiled Molmo 2, a new open-source AI model that can analyze video with precision — tracking objects, counting events, and pinpointing exactly where and when things happen in a clip. The advanced vision system offers an open alternative to closed video models from Google, OpenAI, and others. Read More

Ai2 releases Olmo 3 open models, rivaling Meta, DeepSeek and others on performance and efficiency

The Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) unveiled Olmo 3, a new generation of open language models that it says outperforms rivals while using far less computing and offering more transparency. Read More

Ai2 loosens Big Tech’s grip on Earth insights with open-source AI models for climate and conservation

The Allen Institute for AI unveiled OlmoEarth, an open platform that uses artificial intelligence to track changes to the planet in near real time — from mapping mangroves and monitoring deforestation to improving wildfire prediction and prevention. Read More

Allen Institute for AI

Seattle’s AI2 Incubator rebrands as AI House, and adds key investor as managing director

Ai2’s Skylight project launches ‘Shippy,’ an AI agent that dives into ocean data

Etzioni on AI: The Pope can talk, but only we can walk

CEO of Paul Allen’s $3.1B science and tech fund steps down less than a year after launch

Etzioni on AI: Don’t let the OpenAI soap opera hide the precedent

Microsoft adds more former Ai2 researchers, bolstering its Superintelligence team

Tech Moves: Microsoft AI leader jumps to OpenAI; former AI2 exec joins Meta; and more

Allen Institute for AI launches big computing cluster for $152M project backed by Nvidia and NSF

AI, fungi, and the future of enterprise tech: Industry vet Bill Hilf on his debut novel, ‘The Disruption’

Ai2 releases open-source web agent to rival closed systems from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic

Microsoft hires former Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi and key researchers for Suleyman’s AI team

Allen Institute for AI CEO Ali Farhadi steps down as nonprofit navigates shifting AI landscape

Anthropic acquires Vercept in early exit for one of Seattle’s standout AI startups

Agents, OpenAI, deepfakes, and the messy reality of the AI boom: A conversation with Oren Etzioni

Ai2 cooks up open-source coding agents with tech equivalent of ‘hot plate and frying pan’

Ai2 CEO Ali Farhadi named to ‘AI Power List,’ with a nod to institute’s open-source focus

Allen Institute for AI rivals Google, Meta and OpenAI with open-source AI vision model

Ai2 releases Olmo 3 open models, rivaling Meta, DeepSeek and others on performance and efficiency

Ai2 loosens Big Tech’s grip on Earth insights with open-source AI models for climate and conservation

A tale of two Seattles in the age of AI: Harsh realities and new hope for the tech community

Tech Moves: Smartsheet names CISO; Amazon attorney retires; former Carbon CEO joins Stacklok

The Idea Man’s Last Big Idea: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in his own words

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s final act: New $3.1B foundation bets big on science and tech

AI sidekick for scientists: Ai2 aims to spark big discoveries with Asta open-source agent platform

Photos: Inside the Allen Institute for AI’s new HQ in Seattle’s first mass-timber office building

Allen Institute for AI lands $152M from Nvidia and NSF to lead national AI project

Ai2 unveils MolmoAct: Open-source robotics system reasons in 3D and adjusts on the fly

After 48 years at UW, Ed Lazowska reflects on computer science, education, AI, and what’s next

UW prof Dieter Fox leaves Nvidia to lead robotics initiative at Allen Institute for AI