These days AI applications like ChatGPT are all over the news. Germany seems in danger of missing out on a major industry trend once again. Sufficient server capacities are rare, investments amounts low and major players not in sight. But although the overall image indeed isn’t too promising, some companies are catching up. The Cologne based translation startup DeepL has outmaneuvered Google Translate in many ways relying on its AI technology. And another player from the Rhine-Neckar-region recently also has raised major attention among journalists and investors: Aleph Alpha from Heidelberg. While other providers train their AI applications with enormous amounts of data, Aleph Alpha found another approach – their AGI-model relies on a generalized AI, which is able to imitate neuronal structures and so comes astonishingly close to human thinking. Before he decided to set up his own business founder Jonas Andrulis was working as a researcher for Apple. Even though American and Chinese tech giants seem to be far ahead the moment, Andrulis is still full of optimism for the future of his company. With Aleph Alpha, Andrulis aims to create a European alternative to OpenAI: "I want to build a team in Heidelberg that can not only apply AGI technology at a world-class level, but also understand the mechanisms behind it. We will develop models that are designed to be secure, transparent, fair, and in line with our social values." His vision seems far from being unrealistic – Aleph Alpha convinced Germanies largest VC-investors to invest in the company. Learn more about his high-flying plans on https://www.faz.net/podcasts/f-a-z-digitec-podcast/wie-jonas-andrulis-die-kuenstliche-intelligenz-gross-macht-17491974.html
We as MCEI are definitely excited how the journey is going to continue for Aleph Alpha. Being part of the network KI Garage, we try to foster regional AI innovation as broadly as possible. KI-Garage is a program of the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung, which is implemented jointly by numerous university and educational institutions throughout Baden-Württemberg. It aims to create the transfer of scientific AI ideas to entrepreneurial products and services. Learn more about the program on https://www.ki-garage.de/en/about-us
