SingularityNET awards $1 million in global AI grants

SingularityNET has distributed over $1 million in Deep Funding grants to developers globally to support the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) aimed at benefiting humanity.

The funding has been awarded to 16 projects across 18 categories, involving individuals from Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Argentina, Russia, the UK, the USA, Portugal, and Brazil. These projects cover a range of topics including neuro-symbolic architectures and quantum computing, all utilising SingularityNET's OpenCog Hyperon framework.

"Quantum computing offers the potential for unparalleled computational capability and the means of overcoming thermodynamic barriers limiting conventional chips," said Elija Perrier, a project co-owner from Brisbane, Australia, who received $80,000 for research into quantum computing's role in AGI. "However quantum mechanics represents a fundamentally distinct ontological paradigm compared with its classical counterpart. Understanding the conditions upon which quantum-native AGI may be possible remains uncharted territory."

Rob Freeman from the UK received $80,000 for his work on neuro-symbolic deep neural network architectures. He noted, "It's great that SingularityNET is exploring more diverse means of funding truly novel ideas. Research both in universities and large companies has become very siloed. Our new global connectivity opens avenues of research and collaboration never before possible."

Dr Ben Goertzel, Founder and CEO of SingularityNET, expressed the motivation behind the initiative: "When we launched our RFP with $1.25 million in grant funding across 14 critical challenge areas, we had a bold vision: to accelerate the development of AGI through our groundbreaking OpenCog Hyperon architecture, the innovative MeTTa programming language, and the SingularityNET platform."

He added, "We were humbled and inspired by the depth, creativity, and technical brilliance of the proposals we received. Each proposal represented not just a potential technological solution, but a glimpse into the collective human potential to shape the future of artificial intelligence."

Dr Goertzel emphasised the scheme's inclusive nature, stating, "The diversity of participants brings unique, global perspectives to our mission, fostering an inclusive approach to solving complex AGI challenges, which has always been one of our core principles."

The evaluation process for DeepFunding focused on the technical strength of the proposals and their integration potential with SingularityNET's technologies to contribute to the broader AGI strategy.

The awarded projects also included contributions from Nils Kakoseos in Sweden, receiving $70,000 for ternary sheaf networks, and Seb Wiechers from the Netherlands, who was granted $27,000 for developing a corpus for training large language models in SingularityNET's MeTTa programming language.

SingularityNET's initiative is part of a global movement to develop beneficial AGI solutions, reinforcing the platform's support for state-of-the-art AGI research and fostering a collaborative innovation ecosystem.

Dr Ben Goertzel concluded, "The journey toward beneficial artificial intelligence is a collective endeavour. Together, we are pioneering a future where innovation will know no limits, and the collective potential of human creativity will meet the transformative power of artificial intelligence."