Jul 7, 2023

(Yicai Global) July 7 -- The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute, a non-profit organization founded by global investment firm Shanda Group’s Chairman Chen Tianqiao and his wife Chrissy Luo, plans to invest CNY1 billion (USD138 million) to support the application of artificial intelligence in brain science research. The TCCI will set up an AI brain science laboratory, MindX, with a startup capital of USD100 million and frontier labs for specific application scenarios, including ‘AI + sleep’ and ‘AI + anti-aging,’ with a startup capital of CNY50 (USD6.9 billion) each, Gerwin Schalk, director of the Chen Frontier Lab for Applied Neurotechnology, said at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai yesterday. MindX will recruit two directors specialized in neuroscience and AI to lead the development of AI through deep research on features of the human brain, including learning, memory, cognition, and emotion, and use AI to unravel the mysteries of the brain. The TCCI will continue to invest further in the labs, Yicai Global learned from the NPO. Founded in 2016, the TCCI funds brain science research projects, including mental health, sleep, and neurodegenerative diseases. In the same year, Chen announced a USD1 billion donation to the California Institute of Technology for brain science research. The TCCI also joined the generative AI frenzy and said in March it would recruit AI talents from around the world, especially algorithm engineers with experience in large language models and natural language processing. NeuroXess, a brain-computer interface research and development company founded by the TCCI, released several first-step research findings at the ongoing WAIC. The Shanghai-based startup successfully implanted brain-computer interfaces on a two-year-old Labrador and a seven-year-old rhesus monkey. Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione Follow Yicai Global on RELATED