The University of Oxford has unveiled a new five-year partnership with OpenAI, the developer of the widely recognized artificial intelligence tool, ChatGPT.
This collaboration will provide Oxford students and staff with access to funding and advanced AI tools, aimed at enhancing teaching, learning, and research, according to the university.
A portion of the Bodleian Library’s public collection will be digitized as part of this initiative. Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s chief operating officer, emphasized that “continued collaboration” with the academic community is “essential to build AI that benefits everyone.”
What University of Oxford gains from OpenAI
Under the agreement, Oxford researchers will gain access to OpenAI’s latest models, including a version of ChatGPT tailored for educational purposes. Research grant funding will also be available for projects involving collaboration with the California-based firm. The university stated that this partnership will “present opportunities to accelerate” research in critical areas such as health and climate change.
Professor Patrick Grant, pro vice-chancellor for research at Oxford, noted, “Artificial intelligence is accelerating the pace of scientific discovery and enabling researchers to work with increasingly complex data sets.” He further added, “The university aims to be at the forefront of AI research and the application of AI for all researchers, by producing ground-breaking studies to help both scholars and society not only adapt to these technologies, but also harness them wisely to their full potential.”
Bodleian Library collections that were previously inaccessible online will be made available globally through this project. Librarian Richard Ovenden stated, “The Bodleian’s mission is to acquire, preserve, and make available knowledge for the benefit of our students, researchers, and the wider public.”
He continued, “Over the centuries, we have consistently sought new ways to advance this mission and have, in recent years, been an innovator in the use of technology.” This new partnership is a direct result of the University of Oxford’s involvement in NextGenAI, a project involving leading universities in the US and UK, sponsored by OpenAI.”
The NextGenAI initiative will accelerate research progress and catalyze a new generation of institutions equipped to harness the transformative power of AI,” Lightcap said.
