Artificial intelligence is moving faster than ever, and new players are stepping in to make sure the technology grows in the right way. One of those players is the Laude Institute, which has just announced its first batch of “Slingshots” AI grants. These grants are designed to help researchers push the boundaries of artificial intelligence while keeping ethics, transparency, and long-term benefits in mind.

This program is not about chasing profits or quick results. Instead, it focuses on giving researchers the tools and support they need to create AI that truly benefits people everywhere.

What Is the Slingshots AI Grant Program?

The Slingshots program is an accelerator for AI researchers. Think of it like a boost that helps smart people move faster with their ideas. It provides resources that most universities or small labs usually do not have. This includes funding, access to powerful computers, and engineering support from experts.

In return, researchers who receive the grants promise to deliver something real at the end of the program. That could be a startup, an open-source software project, or another useful product that others can use or build on.

The goal is simple: help researchers turn great ideas into working solutions that can improve artificial intelligence for everyone.

15 Projects in the First Batch

The first group of Slingshots grants includes 15 projects. Many of them are focused on one of the hardest problems in AI today, which is how to evaluate AI systems properly. Evaluating AI means checking how well it performs, how fair it is, and whether it can be trusted in real-world use.

Some of these projects are already well known in the AI community. For example:

• Terminal Bench, a command-line coding benchmark that helps test AI coding ability.

• ARC-AGI, a long-running project that measures artificial general intelligence progress.

• Formula Code, built by researchers at Caltech and UT Austin, which tests if AI can optimize existing code.

• BizBench, created at Columbia University, which benchmarks “white-collar AI agents” to see how they perform office-style tasks.

Another key project is CodeClash, led by John Boda Yang, who co-founded SWE-Bench. This project will test code quality using a competition-based format where AI models compete to produce better results.

Yang believes such tests are crucial. He explained that having reliable and open benchmarks keeps AI research fair and consistent. Without them, every company could create its own private benchmarks, which could hurt progress and make it hard to compare results.

Why the Slingshots Grants Matter

The Slingshots program is not just about giving money. It is about helping AI research move in the right direction. Many researchers today struggle because they lack access to computing power or the funds to test big ideas. The Laude Institute is trying to fill that gap.

By offering these resources, the institute gives researchers the freedom to experiment without worrying about commercial pressure. They can focus on quality, ethics, and innovation, not just making something that sells fast.

This is important because commercial AI projects often focus on short-term profits. They try to release tools quickly to gain users and revenue. However, deeper AI research that studies fairness, accuracy, or safety needs time and patience. The Laude Institute’s grants support this kind of long-term thinking.

The Bigger Vision Behind Laude Institute

The Laude Institute is a nonprofit organization started by Andy Konwinski, one of the co-founders of Databricks and Perplexity AI. His goal is to make sure that artificial intelligence grows in a way that helps humanity, not just large corporations.

The institute runs two major programs: Slingshots and Moonshots. While Slingshots focuses on early-stage research that can move quickly, Moonshots supports big, long-term projects that deal with massive global challenges. These include things like scientific discovery, healthcare improvement, and workforce reskilling.

By working as a nonprofit, Laude Institute can avoid the usual pressure that comes from investors or market competition. This allows it to fund research that might be too risky or too slow for commercial companies to support.

A Step Toward Ethical AI

AI is becoming more powerful every year, but it also comes with risks. Issues like bias, misinformation, and privacy are serious concerns. The Laude Institute’s programs focus on ethical AI, which means making sure AI systems are fair, transparent, and beneficial to all.

Some of the Slingshots projects are exploring new ways to measure and fix algorithmic bias. Others are working on reinforcement learning and model compression to make AI systems more efficient and less wasteful. Together, they represent a small but important shift in how the world builds and tests AI.

This approach is attracting attention from academics, developers, and investors who believe that the future of AI should not only be about profit, but also about progress that serves everyone.

Looking Ahead

The success of the Slingshots program could set a new standard for how AI research is supported. By combining academic rigor with practical tools, it offers a model that other institutions might follow.

If the first batch of 15 projects delivers strong results, the program could expand and attract more partnerships around the world. In time, it could help shape a global movement for open, ethical, and inclusive AI research.

The Bottom Line

The Laude Institute’s Slingshots AI grants are more than just funding opportunities. They represent a new way of thinking about the future of artificial intelligence. By empowering researchers with tools, resources, and freedom from profit pressure, the program encourages creativity and responsibility in equal measure.

In a world where AI is often controlled by big tech companies, the Laude Institute stands out for supporting ideas that put people first. This is not just good news for researchers, but also for everyone who believes that technology should serve humanity, not the other way around.

Also Read:Sam Altman says OpenAI has $20B ARR and about $1.4 trillion in data center commitments