Partnership on AI Adds Corporate, NGO Members, Charts Initial Course Xconomy

Artificial intelligence is a booming business in 2017, but one that also comes with significant baggage in the form of public misunderstanding, potential job losses, and fear. Last fall, A.I. competitors Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, and Google banded together to form the Partnership on AI to Benefit People and Society, an industry-led attempt to get ahead of the many social, ethical, and economic issues presented by the advent of technology with increasingly human-like capabilities. Apple joined the group as another founding member earlier this year. On Tuesday, the Partnership on AI (PAI) announced nearly two dozen new members, including more of the tech industry's biggest names--Intel, eBay, Salesforce, and SAP among them--and many of the world's foremost A.I. research institutions, such as the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Also joining are nonprofits focused on digital privacy, human rights, and freedom.