KANSAS CITY - A coalition of five mega-funders, including a non-profit started by Wichita-based billionaire Charles Koch, the Gates Foundation (Bill Gates), and the Ballmer Group (Steve Ballmer), will spend $1 billion during the next 15 years; the mission is to help develop artificial intelligence tools for public defenders, parole officers, social workers and others who help Americans in precarious situations.
The funders announced Thursday they'll create a new entity, NextLadder Ventures, offering grants and investments to non-profits and for-profits to develop tools for those who often manage huge caseloads with few resources.
“The solutions that we’re investing in, the hundreds of entrepreneurs that are going to bring forward solutions that incorporate leading edge technologies, are going to do it by coming alongside people who are living through some of the struggles in the economy,” said Brian Hooks, CEO of Stand Together, a nonprofit started by Koch.
The other funders include hedge fund founder John Overdeck, and Valhalla Foundation, which was started by Inuit cofounder Steve Cook and his wife Signe Ostby. Ballmer Group is the philanthropy of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie.
Hooks emphasized that any AI tools NextLadder invests in will be shaped by the needs and feedback of these frontline workers. Tools that don't work for them, won't succeed, he said. Even with the potential risks of AI tools, he said it's imperative that groups that are struggling to move up the economic ladder have access to new technologies.
“The idea that we would deprive those who are struggling in our country from the benefits of the leading edge solutions is unacceptable,” Hooks said.
Charles Koch has a net worth in excess of $67 billion.
In his latest book, ‘Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions For A Top-Down World’, Koch wrote: “Entire communities are coming apart at the seams [and] upward mobility is fading for huge numbers of people, especially those who need it most .. Suicide rates are rising, as are deaths from drug overdose...America is on a trajectory toward a two-tiered society–one in which fewer people get ahead and more fall behind.”