Reed Hastings, cofounder and executive chairman of Netflix, announced a fifty million dollar donation to his alma mater Bowdoin College, the largest gift in the institution’s two hundred thirty one year history, to establish the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity.
New educational initiative
The artificial intelligence and humanity initiative at Bowdoin College is intended to position the liberal arts institution at the forefront of AI research, ethics and education, preparing students to navigate a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, the college announced on Monday.
Hastings said the donation is meant to advance Bowdoin’s mission of developing wisdom for the common good by strengthening the college’s engagement with one of the most transformative developments in human history, artificial intelligence. A member of Bowdoin’s Class of nineteen eighty three, Hastings added that as AI becomes more capable than humans, deep and thoughtful reflection will be necessary to ensure society continues to thrive.
The Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity will initially focus on hiring ten new faculty members across multiple disciplines, supporting current faculty members who are integrating AI into their work and leading discussions on the impact of AI through workshops, symposia and student research initiatives. Funding and fellowship programs will enable faculty to explore both the opportunities and the challenges created by artificial intelligence.
Bowdoin President Safa Zaki, whose research centers on building and testing computational models of the human mind, said she and Hastings share the belief that artificial intelligence makes a liberal arts education and a Bowdoin education even more important in the modern world. The Egypt born cognitive scientist also stressed the importance of embedding ethical considerations into the rapidly evolving AI environment. She noted that ethics, human values and human understanding must guide technological progress, scientific advancement and the new norms that will emerge from this transformation, adding that educators have a moral responsibility to lead this effort.
In nineteen eighty two, Hastings was encouraged to study artificial intelligence by the late mathematics professor Steve Fisk, who suggested the field during a discussion about careers related to mathematics as they walked past the Maine Hall dormitory. Hastings graduated from Bowdoin in nineteen eighty three and earned a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from Stanford University five years later.
One of America’s biggest donors
Hastings appeared for the first time this year on Forbes’ list of America’s twenty five most generous donors. He has substantially increased donations of Netflix stock to his donor advised fund, although he has remained private about the specific recipients of his recent contributions.
The sixty four year old donated approximately fifty seven percent of his Netflix shares, valued at one point six billion dollars, last year to a donor advised fund, as he does not operate a personal foundation. His fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation has distributed one point eight billion dollars to charitable causes.
Education has remained the central focus of the philanthropy of Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin. Their total lifetime giving reached two point one billion dollars, representing twenty eight percent of his net worth, through December thirty two thousand twenty four, according to Forbes.
Hastings previously served on the California State Board of Education from two thousand to two thousand four and currently serves on the boards of several education focused organizations, including KIPP and Pahara.
Net worth
According to Forbes estimates, Hastings had a real time net worth of five point six billion dollars as of March twenty eight two thousand twenty five.
