Academic research into artificial intelligence (AI) has received a significant financial boost with the announcement that 10 million euros in funding will be distributed to 13 Finnish universities.
The foundation run by Peter Sarlin, founder and CEO of the artificial intelligence company Silo AI, said the funding will be used to create professorships focusing on AI research at each of the universities.
The professorships will be part of the ELLIS Institute Finland, which was established in December 2024 to "attract experts and investments globally, directly impacting the quality and quantity of RDI activities in Finland and securing Finland's competitiveness," according to its website.
ELLIS (European Lab for Learning & Intelligence Systems) is a research networking that brings together European AI research under one umbrella. Many of Europe's top universities are already part of the network, and will soon be joined by the 13 Finnish universities once the new professorships are created.
The universities are currently recruiting for these positions, with an expectation they will be filled by the end of this year.
Finland's Ministry of Education and Culture will also provide funding to the ELLIS Institute to the tune of 40 million euros over the next three years.
In an interview with Yle, Sarlin noted that attracting the Ellis network to a country the size of Finland was a considerable success.
"Other major countries in Europe have actually been jealous of this and even a little vocal in asking how this could happen," Sarlin said.
Finland as a destination for researchers
Sarlin has long spoken of the need for Finland to become a world leader in AI research and expertise, telling Yle in 2023 that the sector offers a significant opportunity for the Nordic nation.
When US semiconductor manufacturer AMD acquired Silo AI last summer in a deal worth 615 million euros, Sarlin set up his own foundation to support this objective.
Attracting top talent to Finland has a positive knock-on effect on the wider Finnish economy, Sarlin noted, as good researchers will draw more funding and recruit new experts. He added that networks are usually formed around top researchers.
"Ultimately, the best researchers want to work with the best professors, and if we succeed in attracting the top professors, then it will have a significant multiplier effect," Sarlin said, citing his own company — Silo AI — as an example.
Most of the firm's employees are of foreign background, he said, and many have work experience in tech companies such as Google, Apple or Meta.
Researching AI from different perspectives
According to Sarlin, the funding distributed to the 13 Finnish universities will be used to research AI from a multitude of different angles — and this was reflected in how AI was defined by the foundation.
"I didn't want to take a stand on what artificial intelligence is now. I didn't want to define what the latest technology is and what is the latest neural network architecture within which research should be conducted," Sarlin said.
Most of the current research conducted by the Ellis Institute focuses on the technical side of artificial intelligence, such as machine learning and language models — but there is a social aspect too.
For example, the professorship at the University of Lapland will focus on the legal aspects of artificial intelligence, including what kind of legislation and regulation AI needs.
Elsewhere, the Swedish-speaking School of Economics and Business Hanken will study the effects of AI on business models, and a professorship will be established at Uniarts Helsinki to study the effects of AI on the creative process.
"We are creating a world-class environment for AI researchers," Sarlin said.
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