Community-rooted, independent AI research free from Big Tech influence, founded by Timnit Gebru after her exit from Google.
DAIR is Timnit Gebru's research institute focused on the harms AI causes today, especially to marginalised communities and data workers. It is deliberately independent of tech company funding.
Focus
- Fairness non discrimination
- Worker protection
- Anti concentration
- Data rights
Funding, as far as we know
Foundation grants at launch (Ford, MacArthur, Kapor Center, Open Society, Rockefeller; $3.7M reported) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_Artificial_Intelligence_Research_Institute
What they've actually done
Launched as an independent institute; hired Google Ethical AI researchers Alex Hanna and Dylan Baker
2 December 2021
Published the 'TESCREAL' critique of AGI ideology (Gebru & Torres) shaping the ethics-vs-safety debate
2024-04
Runs the 'Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000' podcast and Data Workers' Inquiry documenting labour conditions of data annotators
2023-2026