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🧪 LawZero by Yoshua Bengio: A $30M Nonprofit for Safer AI

NewBits Digest banner, featured in article on LawZero by Yoshua Bengio, highlighting the launch of a $30M nonprofit for safe-by-design AI and the development of its flagship system, Scientist AI.

LawZero by Yoshua Bengio is a new $30 million nonprofit focused on building transparent, uncertainty-aware AI systems designed to prevent catastrophic risk. At a time when AI safety efforts are often embedded within large tech companies, Bengio is creating an independent institution to rethink how we build AI — from the ground up.


🧠 What LawZero by Yoshua Bengio Is Doing


Yoshua Bengio — recipient of the 2018 Turing Award (announced in 2019) and professor at the University of Montreal, where he leads Mila, the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms — has launched LawZero, a nonprofit focused on building “safe-by-design” AI systems. The initiative is backed by $30 million in funding to develop its flagship system, Scientist AI.


🔍 The Details


  • LawZero’s mission is to create AI systems that provide probabilistic, transparent assessments rather than absolute answers — aiming to reflect uncertainty and reduce overconfidence in AI responses.


  • Scientist AI will focus on accelerating scientific discovery, monitoring other AI systems for deception or emergent misalignment, and proactively addressing catastrophic risk.


  • Backers include Eric Schmidt’s philanthropic fund, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, and prominent AI safety orgs.


  • Bengio voiced concern over leading models like Claude 4 Opus and o3, saying they show early signs of self-preservation behavior and strategic deception.


  • In an interview with FT, Bengio also expressed doubt about OpenAI’s commitment to its founding mission, citing rising commercial pressure.


📊 Why LawZero by Yoshua Bengio Matters


  • AI Safety Goes Independent: While many safety efforts have been internal to major labs, Bengio is building an outside institution with full control and dedicated resources.


  • A Deeper Critique: Bengio and Hinton have been vocal about AI risks, but LawZero marks a concrete, solution-driven move to counter what they see as dangerous trajectories.


  • A New AI Paradigm: By prioritizing uncertainty, oversight, and scientific rigor, LawZero proposes a different path from the current race for general-purpose power.



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