A Crowd of Computer Scientists Lined Up for Bill Gates--But it Was Gavin Newsom That Got Them Buzzing

Stanford University launched its Institute for Human-Centered AI on Monday. Known as Stanford HAI, the institute's charter is to develop new technologies while guiding AI's impact on the world, wrestle with ethical questions, and come up with helpful public policies. The Institute intends to raise US $1 billion to put towards this effort. The university kicked off Stanford HAI (pronounced High) with an all-day symposium that laid out some of the issues the institute aims to address while showcasing Stanford's current crop of AI researchers. The most anticipated speaker on the agenda was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.