Ai2 and Google Cloud commit $20M to advance AI-powered research for the Cancer AI Alliance

Today we announced that we’re partnering with the Cancer AI Alliance (CAIA), a pioneering consortium uniting leading cancer research institutions and technology companies to harness AI in the fight against cancer.

Ai2 and Google Cloud are each investing $10 million in the initiative and providing access to technology solutions that will help speed scientific discovery. Google Cloud will power planet-scale AI infrastructure and data analytics tools, while Ai2 will provide critical expertise in training large-scale models focusing on cancer research.

CAIA, spearheaded by Seattle’s Fred Hutch Cancer Center in collaboration with top cancer research institutes and tech leaders, aims to create a novel AI infrastructure that is open, which is critical for the research, while keeping data private and secure. By bringing together leading cancer centers, CAIA will develop generalizable AI models that in the future can be shared across institutions, from large centers to smaller regional hospitals.

“The addition of Google Cloud and AI2 to CAIA builds on our incredible momentum toward safely and swiftly unlocking the next generation of critical insights in cancer treatment and care,” said Jeff Leek, chief data officer at Fred Hutch Cancer Center. “Their generous investment of AI and computing expertise and resources will play a key role in creating the world’s most advanced cancer AI laboratory and dramatically accelerate cancer research.”

AI has the potential to radically advance cancer research, accelerating the potential for cures or more effective treatments. However, this is only possible with access to critical data aligned across cancers, treatments, institutions, and medical professionals. Today, cancer AI models are often limited by both the breadth and depth of data and not easily transferable between institutions, limiting the potential for a single model to make a broader impact in the field of cancer research.

"The potential for AI to advance healthcare is immense," said Ali Farhadi, CEO of Ai2. “At Ai2, we are not only committed to building state-of-the-art AI models, but also to creating open, scalable systems that allow cancer centers to collaborate in a distributed and private way. For the first time, cancer centers are bringing their data together, and it's imperative we architect data preparation and model training in a way that protects patient privacy while demonstrating the advancements we make by sharing data effectively and securely. Our open, yet privacy-protected distributed approach allows researchers and clinicians to build on and learn from AI models without the need to directly share data.”

Leveraging Google Cloud infrastructure, Ai2 will play a leading role in AI training efforts across the Alliance, collaborating with individual cancer centers to develop and refine AI models tailored to their specific needs. These models will be designed to scale across institutions, ensuring robust data privacy and security by implementing advanced techniques to protect sensitive, institute-specific data while fostering collaboration and innovation.

"The Cancer AI Alliance marks a significant step towards realizing the full potential of AI in the fight against cancer,” said Reymund Dumlao, Director, State and Local Government and Education, Google Public Sector. “We are committed to this collaboration, providing advanced Google Cloud technology needed to build a future where scalable infrastructure and secure, open AI models are readily available.”

With Ai2 leading AI model development, powered by Google Cloud’s infrastructure and computing technology that enables collaboration on large data sets, CAIA is primed to drive rapid progress in AI-powered cancer research.