AI Research for Everyone

Innovation – Artificial Intelligence

Large tech companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta develop their AI systems behind closed doors, raising societal concerns. The LAION e.V. research consortium was founded to promote transparency and collaboration in AI research through publicly accessible datasets and open-source developments.

June 2024

AI Technologies: Unlocking Closed Doors

Cutting-edge AI technologies, including ChatGPT, emerge from behind corporate walls at companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta. The data these systems train on and their underlying code remain closely guarded secrets. "This is a societal issue," says Jenia Jitsev from the Jülich Supercomputing Centre. With AI increasingly shaping our lives, the lack of transparency is becoming a significant concern.

ChatGPT und andere große Technologien im Bereich der Künstlichen Intelligenz (KI) werden von Konzernen wie OpenAI, Google und Meta hinter verschlossenen Türen entwickelt. Mit welchen Daten lernen diese Systeme? Wie sieht der Quellcode aus? Das sind wohlgehütete Geschäftsgeheimnisse. „Gesellschaftlich gesehen ist das ein Problem.

Democratizing AI with Accessible Datasets

Inspired by DALL-E’s 2021 breakthrough—generating high-resolution images from text—the LAION e.V. consortium was born. LAION’s mission is to openly discuss and replicate AI developments.

Jitsev emphasizes that AI already influences our lives and will continue to do so. The consortium provides open datasets for AI training, leveraging the computational power of the JUWELS supercomputer at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

AI for Everyone: Insights from Dr. Jenia Jitsev and Dr. Mehdi Cherti

LAION’s members champion research freedom. “We strive to make foundational AI models accessible to all researchers,” says Jitsev. This approach ensures verifiable models with widespread benefits. LAION advocates for open-source projects and international collaborations, recently earning recognition from the Falling Walls Foundation.

Global Collaboration: Advancing Transparent AI

“Openness is essential for AI to benefit everyone,” asserts Jitsev. LAION’s commitment to open-source initiatives and global partnerships drives transparent and inclusive AI advancement.

Stable Diffusion Demo