Geoff Ralston, well-known in the startup community for his years, he returned to the formal investment ring, he announced Thursday.
His new fund is called Safe Artificial Intelligence Fund or Saif, which is each an explanation of his work and the art of words.
Ralston is especially looking for startups that “increase the safety of AI, security and responsible implementation” as its fund website describes. He plans to put in writing $ 100,000 as a secure, “intended game of words”, says $ 10 million with a limit. Of course, the secure is investing now/price later tool for the pre -investing pioneer Y Combinator (means easy compliance for future equity).
While most VC nowadays want to take a position in AI startups, Ralston’s shot is barely more focused on the idea of secure artificial intelligence, although it admits that the concept is a bit wide.
“The vast majority of AI in the world use this technology to solve problems or create performance or create new opportunities. They are not necessarily necessary, but security is not their main problem,” says Ralston. “I intend to finance startups, whose main goal is safe artificial intelligence – as (very widely) I defined.”
This list includes startups focusing on improving the safety of artificial intelligence, corresponding to those that specify the AI decision -making process or AI security. It includes products that protect mental property, those who provide AI in accordance with the requirements of conformity, fight disinformation and detect attacks generated by AI. He also wants to take a position in functional AI tools for built -in safety, corresponding to higher AI forecast tools and business negotiating tools that do not reveal corporate secrets for bystanders.
It may sound like a list of startups AI, which implements a lot of VC, but there are areas that Ralston says that he is not going to come back. One of the examples is a fully autonomous weapon.
“Certainly, there is an artificial intelligence that will (will be) dangerous: using technology to create runners, to manage conventional weapons without a man in a loop, etc.” he explained.
In fact, he would love to finance “weapon safety systems” that would detect or prevent AI weapons attacks.
This is an interesting contradictory point of view of many today’s Defense and VC technology founders. As Techcrunch informed earlier, some people building AI weapons are increasingly swimming that such a weapon would work higher without a man.
Despite all this, AI is currently a crowded field for VC. This is where Ralston hopes that his connections can provide him an advantage. Ralston left YC in 2022, after three years as a president (replaced Garry Tan) and over a decade as an advisor.
Ralston plans to supply mentoring of this sort, which he did in a tongue accelerator Startup and promised to coach them, how one can apply for YC. And offers help in using its significant investor network.
Ralston refused to find out how big this fund is, how many startups he intends to withdraw or who its supporters of LP are.