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AIQuiet 11d · day 11

Canada, Germany fund Bengio's LawZero with $300M for safe AI research

The non-profit will use the grant to develop Scientist AI, a system designed to monitor and guard against harmful AI behaviors.

newest coverage 10d agosummary written 11d ago6 pieces3 likes & upvotes MastodonNewswiresGoogle NewsHacker News

What to know

  • Canada and Germany are jointly providing $300 million ($150M each) in grants to LawZero, a non-profit developing safe AI systems, announced at Montreal's All In AI conference on September 16.
  • The funding will support development of Scientist AI, a guardrail system designed to monitor other AI models and prevent harmful behaviors like deception, self-preservation, and goal misalignment.
  • Bengio frames the investment as a way for middle powers to shape global AI governance and ensure the technology's future is not determined solely by the U.S. and China.
  • The announcement aligns with broader industry calls for slower, safer AI development, following recent warnings from researchers about existential risks and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's essay this month on coordinated pacing.

“Middle powers like Canada, as Mark Carney has been saying, need to have cards in their hands so that they can sit at the global table and be part of the discussion. So the future of humanity and geopolitical power isn't the decision of two countries.”

Yoshua Bengio, LawZero founder · Globe and Mail ↗ · Sep 15

Yoshua BengioYoshua Bengio Founder, LawZero; Turing Award winnerLawZero Non-profit AI safety organizationCanada (Federal AI Minister Evan Solomon) Co-funderGermany Co-funderDario AmodeiDario Amodei Anthropic CEO

Canada, Germany fund Bengio's LawZero with $300M for safe AI research
theglobeandmail.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 4 pieces in 3h at Sep 16, 10 AM; 6 pieces over 11 days (4 articles · 2 posts) Sep 16, 10 AM — 4 pieces · 3 articles · 1 post — Newswires 3, Mastodon 1Sep 16, 1 PM — quietSep 16, 4 PM — quietSep 16, 7 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Sep 16, 10 PM — quietSep 17, 1 AM — quietSep 17, 4 AM — quietSep 17, 7 AM — quietSep 17, 10 AM — quietSep 17, 1 PM — quietSep 17, 4 PM — quietSep 17, 7 PM — quietSep 17, 10 PM — quietSep 18, 1 AM — quietSep 18, 4 AM — quietSep 18, 7 AM — quietSep 18, 10 AM — quietSep 18, 1 PM — quietSep 18, 4 PM — quietSep 18, 7 PM — quietSep 18, 10 PM — quietSep 19, 1 AM — quietSep 19, 4 AM — quietSep 19, 7 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Sep 19, 10 AM — quietSep 19, 1 PM — quietSep 19, 4 PM — quietSep 19, 7 PM — quietSep 19, 10 PM — quietSep 20, 1 AM — quietSep 20, 4 AM — quietSep 20, 7 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 1 PM — quietSep 20, 4 PM — quietSep 20, 7 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 1 AM — quietSep 21, 4 AM — quietSep 21, 7 AM — quietSep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 1 PM — quietSep 21, 4 PM — quietSep 21, 7 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 1 AM — quietSep 22, 4 AM — quietSep 22, 7 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 1 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietSep 23, 1 AM — quietSep 23, 4 AM — quietSep 23, 7 AM — quietSep 23, 10 AM — quietSep 23, 1 PM — quietSep 23, 4 PM — quietSep 23, 7 PM — quietSep 23, 10 PM — quietSep 24, 1 AM — quietSep 24, 4 AM — quietSep 24, 7 AM — quietSep 24, 10 AM — quietSep 24, 1 PM — quietSep 24, 4 PM — quietSep 24, 7 PM — quietSep 24, 10 PM — quietSep 25, 1 AM — quietSep 25, 4 AM — quietSep 25, 7 AM — quietSep 25, 10 AM — quietSep 25, 1 PM — quietSep 25, 4 PM — quietSep 25, 7 PM — quietSep 25, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 10 AM — quietToday, 1 PM — quietToday, 4 PM — quiet 1
Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22Sep 23Sep 24Sep 25yesterdaynow · 7:56 PM ET
  1. 1

    Canadian AI minister frames funding as sovereignty and geopolitical positioning

    Federal AI minister Evan Solomon and Bengio both emphasize that the funding allows Canada to strengthen sovereign AI capacity and ensure that middle powers have a voice in shaping the technology globally, rather than ceding the field to the U.S. and China.

    “By investing in homegrown innovation like Scientist AI, we are strengthening Canada's sovereign AI capacity and ensuring that the next generation of AI is built safely, responsibly, and on Canadian terms.”
    — Evan Solomon
  2. background

    Canada and Germany commit $300M in grants to LawZero — LawZero announces at Montreal's All In AI conference that Canada and Germany will each contribute up to $150 million in grant funding. The financing will support hiring and computational costs for developing Scientist AI, a system designed to monitor and create guardrails for other AI systems.

  3. background

    Anthropic CEO Amodei calls for coordinated AI development slowdown — Dario Amodei publishes an essay this month arguing that AI companies should work together to pace the speed of development, echoing earlier calls from Bengio and others for restraint.

  4. background

    Yoshua Bengio founds LawZero non-profit with $30M philanthropic funding — Bengio, a Turing Award winner and professor at Université de Montréal, establishes LawZero with close to US$30 million in philanthropic funding after becoming concerned that powerful AI systems could be misused and slip from human control.

  5. background

    Bengio signs open letter calling for AI development pause — Bengio becomes one of signatories to an open letter arguing for a pause on AI development to allow guardrails to be put in place, following concerns about misalignment and harmful traits in AI systems.

Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet

  1. 2 outlets LawZero, a non-profit founded by Yoshua Bengio to develop safe AI systems, says Canada and Germany are providing up to $300M in grant funding

    first by Globe and Mail, 11d ago · also The Globe and Mail

    1 more headline
  2. 2 outlets LawZero gets $300M from Canada and Germany to develop safer AI

    first by The Logic, 11d ago · also BetaKit

    1 more headline