Yoshua Bengio Launches LawZero to Advance AI Safety

Yoshua Bengio, a Turing Award-winning AI pioneer often hailed as one of the “godfathers” of modern artificial intelligence, has taken a decisive step to address AI safety by founding LawZero, a nonprofit laboratory dedicated to building safer AI systems.

LawZero recently secured $30 million in philanthropic funding from influential figures and organizations including Jaan Tallinn, the founding engineer of Skype; Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO; Open Philanthropy; and the Future of Life Institute. This strong backing underscores the urgency and importance of AI safety in today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape.

The name LawZero is inspired by the Zeroth Law of Robotics, a science fiction principle that prioritizes the protection of humanity above all else. This reflects the lab’s core mission: to ensure AI development is aligned with human safety and ethical considerations.

Bengio has been an outspoken advocate for AI safety, publicly supporting legislative efforts such as California’s SB-1047 bill aimed at preventing catastrophic AI outcomes. He has expressed skepticism about the willingness of major AI companies like OpenAI and Google to prioritize safety over rapid advancement, highlighting the need for independent initiatives like LawZero.

As AI technologies become increasingly powerful and integrated into critical systems, the launch of LawZero represents a vital effort to steer AI development toward safer, more ethical horizons. It raises an important question for the industry: can we build AI that truly safeguards humanity before it outpaces our ability to control it?