GoogleThe philanthropic sector Google.org was featured in the inaugural "AIAt the AI for Science Forum, the company announced the creation of a $20 million (currently about 145 million yuan) fund to support academic institutions and non-profit organizations that use AI to advance scientific breakthroughs across disciplines.
According to the official announcement, Google will work with its internal AI team and external experts to select beneficiary organizations and provide Google Cloud credits and technical support worth a total of $2 million.
The initiative builds on the success of programs such as AlphaFold, which achieved a major breakthrough in protein structure prediction and significantly advanced medical research. Google says, "There is tremendous potential in areas such as rare and neglected disease research, experimental biology, materials science, and sustainable development."
Google and Microsoft are reportedly tied for the top spot in terms of AI training and cloud data center power consumption, with the two companies' combined data center power consumption reaching 24 terawatt-hours (TWh) in all of 2023 alone.