While attending Bowdoin College in the 1980s as an undergraduate student, a conversation with the late mathematics professor Steve Fisk convinced Reed Hastings, co-founder and chairman of Netflix, to study the then-nascent field of A.I. Now, four decades later, Hastings is giving back to his alma mater with a $50 million gift that will establish a program dedicated to studying the breakthrough technology’s ethics.
“Steve was about 40 years too early, but his perspective was life-changing for me,” said Hastings in a statement. His funds will support the newly created Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity, a program set to “empower students and faculty to critically examine, thoughtfully utilize, and ethically shape A.I.’s trajectory,” added the billionaire.
The gift is the largest in Bowdoin’s 231-year history. In keeping with the Brunswick, Maine school’s liberal arts bend, Hastings’ program will emphasize researching A.I.’s impact on ethics, norms and humanity. Initial priorities include hiring ten new faculty members, supporting current teachers looking to infuse their work with the new technology and hosting workshops on A.I.’s uses and challenges.
The college’s cross-disciplinary approach towards A.I. research is made evident by the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity’s advisory committee, which mixes digital and computational professors with experts in anthropology, philosophy, economics, natural sciences and even Romance languages. “Our deep commitment to the liberal arts and the common good position us to think together about what we are going to value in human cognition and what we will want our AI systems to do—or not do—going forward in service to humanity,” said Safa Zaki, Bowdoin’s president, in a statement.
A.I. initiatives, programs and degrees have become increasingly pervasive in higher education since the technology shot into public consciousness following the 2022 release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Schools like Arizona State University have directly partnered with OpenAI to integrate A.I. tools into their coursework, while the University of Pennsylvania last year made history as the first Ivy League to offer an undergraduate degree—and subsequent master’s degree—dedicated to the technology. A.I.-related undergraduate and master’s degree conferrals in the U.S. have risen by 120 percent since 2011, according to a 2023 report from Georgetown University.
Hastings, who co-founded Netflix in 1997, is best known for his 25-year reign as the streamer’s former chief executive. But the media entrepreneur also has an avid interest in educational reform. In addition to serving on the California State Board of Education between 2000 and 2004, Hastings is currently a board member for educational organizations like KIPP and Pahara.
His interest in higher education extends to his philanthropic record, which is spotted with innovative and historic donations to universities. In 2020, for example, he gifted $120 million to Spelman College, Morehouse College and the United Negro College Fund in what then constituted the largest-ever individual gift to HBCUs. Three years later, a $20 million donation was granted to Minerva University, a college that offers virtual learning to students traveling across seven countries. Education also played a large role in the nearly $1.6 billion worth of donations doled out by Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin last year, a figure that landed them among America’s top donors in 2024.
