The Distributed AI Research Institute is a space for independent, community-rooted AI research free from Big Tech’s pervasive influence.

"Timnit Gebru, a prominent artificial intelligence computer scientist, is launching an independent artificial intelligence research institute focused on the harms of the technology on marginalized groups, who often face disproportionate consequences from AI systems but have less influence in its development.

Her new organization, Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR), aims to both document harms and develop a vision for AI applications that can have a positive impact on the same groups. Gebru helped pioneer research into facial recognition software’s bias against people of color, which prompted companies like Amazon to change its practices. A year ago, she was fired from Google for a research paper critiquing the company’s lucrative AI work on large language models, which can help answer conversational search queries.

DAIR received $3.7 million in funding from the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Kapor Center, Open Society Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation." - The Washington Post https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/12/02/timnit-gebru-dair/