Google launched a €10 million Social Innovation AI Fund to help European entrepreneurs tackle the challenges faced by underserving communities. The money has been designated for the expansion of the Google.org funded Social Tides accelerator program, which offers up to €232,000 to startups with a focus on AI.
In 2021, Google offered €20 million for European AI social innovation startups through the same mechanism. The Newsroom in Portugal was one of the first to benefit from the scheme, with its AI-powered app seeking to encourage more contextualised reading and reduce polarisation. A portion of the freshly announced €10 million will be donated to nonprofits that are working on strengthening and growing the social entrepreneurship space in Sweden.
CEO Sundar Pichai was in Stockholm recently to promote Google’s investments in the region. During his stay, he engaged with Prime Minister and visited the KTH Royal Institute of Technology to meet with faculty and students. This also coincided with the six-month-long rotating Presidency of the European Union currently held by Sweden. At a meeting with European Commission Deputy Chief Vera Jourova and EU Industry Chief Thierry Breton, Pichai shared his views on the importance of regulations on AI.
Taking note of the controversial suggestion of classifying “general purpose” AI such as Google’s Bard system as “high-risk”, Pichai proposed an inclusive approach to making laws involving governments, businesses, academic institutions, nonprofits and other stakeholders. Google’s Social Innovation AI Fund is another example of the company’s commitment to helping underserved communities and highlighting the potential of Artificial Intelligence.
