Big day for the Laude community! The first batch of Slingshots // ONE was announced today, a group of ambitious research teams advancing the science and practice of AI. Together, these projects are defining the direction of modern AI: new benchmarks, stronger frameworks, and applied systems that connect frontier science to real-world use. Congratulations to all the researchers in this first batch — and to the entire Laude Institute team for bringing this milestone to life. SYR! https://lnkd.in/ebqvgp9q
Today, we’re announcing Slingshots // ONE, the first batch in Laude’s initiative to help ambitious research teams ship their work faster. These projects are advancing the science and practice of AI — building the benchmarks, frameworks, and agents that move the field forward. Each collaboration starts with two questions: What are you working on? What do you need to push it further? We plug in fast with the right mix of resources, from compute and funding to product, engineering, and advising support. The idea comes from Laude co-founder Andy Konwinski's own path helping turn a university research project, Apache Spark, into Databricks, now a $100B+ platform that has reshaped how data and AI systems are built. The Slingshots program extends that same playbook to the next generation of researchers building at the frontier of AI — led by Laude Research Partner and Snorkel AI co-founder Braden Hancock, and supported by our team and network of world-class advisors. This inaugural batch sets a high bar, with projects from Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, The University of Texas at Austin, Caltech, and Columbia University, alongside open-source builders behind some of the most-watched projects in the OSS community. Researchers: tell us what you’re working on and what you need to get it into the world. We accept projects year-round and announce new batches every few months. More details in the comments.