Carnegie Mellon University students at work. (Photo contributed)

By Gavin Petrone, Technical.ly

More proof of artificial intelligence’s increasing dominance in the tech sector:

For the first time, a National Science Foundation program designed to help aspiring scientists and engineers market their ideas has a cohort focused on AI’s intersection with robotics. 

The seven-week I-Corps cohort concluded last month at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).  It’s part of the NSF’s Mid-Atlantic Hub, which has partnered with Project Olympus, CMU’s startup help program, since 2022.

Project Olympus has an impressive pedigree: Duolingo, Bloomfield Robotics and FascioMetrics are a few among an exhaustive list of CMU-originating startups that went on to see million-dollar exits or profits.

Thanks to I-Corps’ involvement, Project Olympus director Meredith Meyer Grelli believes CMU students are ready to step up to the plate and produce serious innovations in AI.

“I think world changing companies can be built by anyone, no matter their age,” Grelli told Technical.ly. “This cohort was particularly broad in terms of its sort of life stage, or career stage, of its participants. The shelf life of computer science knowledge is just shortening as innovation continues to hasten. And so those who are right in the mix right now, surrounded by these experts doing work, it’s an incredible opportunity.”

One startup, TrueAI, a large language model company hoping to reduce hallucinations and bias in AI chatbots, was founded by sophomores after they both attended an AI ethics lecture, according to a CMU press release.

(For more of the story, visit Technical.ly)

Gavin Petrone is a student at Point Park University and one of 10 Pittsburgh Media Partnership summer interns.