Databricks Co-Founder Launches New AI Research Lab to Focus on “What’s Good for People”
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Andy Konwinski, co-founder of Databricks and current VP at Perplexity AI, just launched a nonprofit research institute focused on AI that benefits the public. The new effort, announced today, will operate independently and aims to answer a big question- how can AI help society, not just business?
The organization, called the Institute for Open Research and AI (IORA), plans to tackle long-term challenges tied to artificial intelligence, from education and healthcare to misinformation and labor. Its goal: build systems that serve people over profits.
Konwinski isn’t launching this solo. He’s pulled together a team of respected AI researchers from UC Berkeley and other academic circles. He said he wants the institute to “do research that no one else is incentivized to do.” That includes ideas companies might ignore if they don’t promise big returns.
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Backed with private funding and a public benefit mission, IORA will share its research openly. That means other developers, nonprofits, and public sector groups can build on what it creates. Konwinski also stressed that the group won’t rely on tech giants to set the agenda or steer the work.
The move lands at a time when companies like OpenAI and Google continue to chase commercial breakthroughs. Konwinski’s team wants to shift that focus, and build tools with long-term human value in mind. Their first research areas will be announced in the coming months.
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