Yoshua Bengio launches LawZero, a nonprofit AI safety lab

Yoshua Bengio, a distinguished Turing Award recipient, has announced the establishment of LawZero, a nonprofit lab dedicated to enhancing the safety of artificial intelligence systems. In an exclusive conversation with the Financial Times, Bengio revealed that LawZero has successfully secured $30 million in philanthropic funding from notable figures and organizations, including Jaan Tallinn, a founding engineer of Skype, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Open Philanthropy, and the Future of Life Institute. The initiative's name, LawZero, references the Zeroth Law of Robotics—a science fiction principle emphasizing the safeguarding of humanity above all else. As one of the prominent figures driving the modern AI revolution, Bengio has emerged as a passionate advocate for AI safety. He recently endorsed California's controversial SB-1047, legislation aimed at averting potential catastrophic outcomes from AI advancements. In his interview, Bengio expressed skepticism about the commitment of tech giants like OpenAI and Google to prioritize safety in their race towards developing more sophisticated AI systems.