Yesterday, which was Saturday, September 21, 2024, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the UN Summit of the Future that Google is creating a $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund. According to Pichai, the $120 million Global AI Opportunity Fund will come to live in partnership with the local nonprofits and NGOs.
The Google's Global AI Opportunity Fund is aimed at making AI education and training available in communities around the world. This initiative will helps bridge the skills gap and empower people to gain expertise in AI which is almost very essential in today's tech-driven world. Speaking at the UN Summit of the Future, Sundar Pichai described AI as “the most transformative technology yet.”
Pichai views AI as a foundational technology that could have an impact similar to or greater than the internet, touching every aspect of life and driving unprecedented technological advancements. By offering AI education, the initiative promote innovation, enhances employment opportunities, and promotes economic growth, particularly in underserved nations of the world.
It also helps create a more inclusive global workforce that ensures that the diverse perspectives contribute to the advancement of AI technology which will ultimately leads to more equitable solutions for societal challenges.
In addition to Sundar Pichai's views at the Summit, he pointed to four broad opportunities he sees for AI and sustainable development: helping people access information in their own language, accelerating scientific discovery, providing alerts and tracking around climate disasters, and fueling economic progress.
He acknowledged that AI also presents risks, for example with deep fakes, though he didn’t mention AI’s impact on the climate. On the same theme, Pichai called for “smart product regulation that mitigates harms and resists national protectionist impulses” — otherwise, he predicted regulation could “widen an AI divide and limit AI’s benefits.”
