by David Nicklaus via St. Louis Post Dispatch
The Spirit of St. Louis AI Innovation Center, launched last month by nonprofit GeoSTL, has backing from such industry heavyweights as Amazon Web Services, Google and Nvidia, as well as St. Louis' own World Wide Technology.
The center plans to stage two or three competitions a year, soliciting ideas on how AI can solve a pressing human problem. Mark Munsell, GeoSTL's executive director, said he expects to launch the first contest this fall, focusing on humanitarian issues. Future competitions will address agriculture, national security, medicine, advanced manufacturing and other fields.
With NVIDIA on board early, it wasn't hard to enlist other tech giants. Bob Olwig, executive vice president for global partner alliances at World Wide Technology, said his company saw an opportunity to showcase its Advanced Technology Center and AI Proving Ground in Maryland Heights.
"We can bring quite a few things to the table," Olwig said. "We also appreciate how it's highlighting the benefit to St. Louis and to some industries St. Louis is really good at."