Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence

The Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence is a research institute at Harvard University devoted to advancing understanding of intelligence in biological and machine systems. ^[1]

History and mission

The institute was publicly launched in 2022 with the aim of bridging brain science and artificial intelligence, cultivating researchers across neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, and related fields. ^[2]

Leadership and staff

The institute is co-directed by computer scientist Sham Kakade and neuroscientist Bernardo Sabatini. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]} Researchers affiliated with the Kempner Institute include: Kanaka Rajan ^{[8] [9]} , Marinka Zitnik ^{[10] [11] [12]} , Kiante Brantley ^[13] , Samuel Gershman ^[14] , and Venkatesh Murthy. ^[15]

Research context and areas

The institute focuses on understanding the basis of intelligence in natural and artificial systems. ^{[16] [17]}

Research topics supported by the institute include: the science of AI, innovation in AI, and AI & the brain. This includes topics such as language processing in the brain ^[18] and AI for biomedicine. ^[19]

In February 2024, the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) released the OLMo 7B (Open Language Model) framework, a release partly enabled by a collaboration with the Kempner Institute, alongside partners such as AMD, Databricks, CSC (Finland), and the University of Washington. ^{[20] [21]}

Computing infrastructure

The Kempner Institute hosts a supercomputing cluster—the Kempner AI Cluster—at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC). ^[22] In 2024, the Kempner AI cluster ranked 85th in the world in speed (TOP500) and 32nd in energy-efficiency (Green500). ^[23]

Building

The Kempner Institute is housed in a 20,000 square foot computational lab and office suite, located on the sixth floor of the Harvard Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) in Allston, MA. ^[24]

References

1. Adams, Susan (Dec 8, 2021). "Zuckerberg And Chan Pledge $500 Million Of Their Facebook Fortune To Create An AI Institute At Harvard". Forbes. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
2. Gardizy, Anissa (22 September 2022). "Zuckerberg, Chan want new Harvard institute to answer questions about the Brain, AI". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 7 March 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
3. Adams, Susan (Dec 8, 2021). "Zuckerberg And Chan Pledge $500 Million Of Their Facebook Fortune To Create An AI Institute At Harvard". Forbes. Archived from the original on 4 July 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
4. Gardizy, Anissa (22 September 2022). "Zuckerberg, Chan want new Harvard institute to answer questions about the Brain, AI". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 7 March 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
5. "Exploring the Use of Artificial Intelligence to Uncover and Enhance the Speech Capabilities of Minimally Verbal Individuals with Autism". Nancy Lurie Marks Foundation. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
6. "Bernardo Sabatini, MD, PhD". Allen Institute. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
7. Barton, Michelle (4 May 2022). "Meet the Forbes AI 50 2022 Judges". Forbes. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
8. Mackenzie, RJ (April 26, 2024). "Computational Neuroscience and the Joy of Discovery with Dr. Kanaka Rajan". Technology Networks. Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
9. "Kanaka Rajan, PhD". Simons Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 August 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
10. "Marinka Zitnik, PhD". EveryCure. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
11. "Marinka Zitnik, PhD". AIME2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
12. Horton, Michelle (2 October 2024). "AI Uses Zero-Shot Learning to Find Existing Drugs for Treating Rare Diseases". NVIDIA Technical Blog. Archived from the original on 22 August 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
13. "Four Week Machine Learning Symposium 2024". Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
14. "Samuel Gershman". The Transmitter. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
15. Kumar, Arun (27 June 2025). "Venkatesh Murthy joining Kempner Institute associate faculty". American Bazaar. Archived from the original on 2 July 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
16. Adams, Susan (Dec 8, 2021). "Zuckerberg And Chan Pledge $500 Million Of Their Facebook Fortune To Create An AI Institute At Harvard". Forbes. Archived from the original on 4 July 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
17. Gardizy, Anissa (22 September 2022). "Zuckerberg, Chan want new Harvard institute to answer questions about the Brain, AI". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 7 March 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
18. Trafton, Anne (26 August 2024). "Scientists find neurons that process language on different timescales". MIT News. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
19. Horton, Michelle (2 October 2024). "AI Uses Zero-Shot Learning to Find Existing Drugs for Treating Rare Diseases". NVIDIA Technical Blog. Archived from the original on 22 August 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
20. Bishop, Todd (1 February 2024). "Allen Institute for AI promises new insights into large language models with OLMo release". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 15 July 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
21. Rubenstein, David (1 February 2024). "AI2 releases OLMo, an open LLM". SD Times. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
22. "Kempner Institute-- Unlocking Intelligence". MGHPCC. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
23. "Top 500 List 2024". Top500.org. Archived from the original on 2025-08-14. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
24. "Collaboration Weave: Fostering Innovation and Discovery in Natural and Artificial Intelligence". Payette. Archived from the original on 12 July 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2025.