Mission
Epoch AI was founded to help people understand what is happening in AI from a neutral perspective and grounded in the best possible evidence.
Our goal is to improve society’s understanding of the drivers, progress, and impact of artificial intelligence. We focus on building a shared scientific foundation for thinking about AI, neutral to any specific agenda, so decisions about this technology are informed by the best available data.
Research
We examine the driving forces behind AI, track the progress of AI capabilities, and measure and forecast its impact. We ground all our research in data and distill it into accessible tools and explainers.
Drivers
We investigate the drivers and bottlenecks of AI progress and scaling. We were among the first to systematically monitor trends in AI training compute, and to identify crucial shifts such as the role of inference compute scaling. Our research includes authoritative analyses of whether AI scaling can continue through 2030 and the feasibility of decentralized training, providing concrete insights into what constrains AI progress.
We develop and host leading databases tracking the inputs to AI development, including ML hardware, AI model training compute estimates, investment, GPU clusters, and frontier data centers. This data provides the foundation for understanding AI’s trajectory and resource requirements.
Progress
We measure and track the capabilities of AI systems over time. We regularly run independent evaluations of new models across domains, and go beyond surface metrics to understand concrete implications for model capabilities. We also review prominent benchmarks, and create new ones; for example, FrontierMath, the state-of-the-art for testing frontier math capabilities.
Impacts
We gather evidence and develop scientifically grounded models to forecast the impact of AI on the economy and the world at large.
We have conducted highly cited research on the economics of AI, from analyzing the consequences of automating remote work, to quantitatively modeling the impact of AI development on the economy. We also conduct polls and interviews on how AI is used and perceived by academics, AI researchers, and the general population.
History
Epoch AI was started in 2021 as a group of volunteers collecting and analyzing data on AI, curating information from hundreds of machine learning models. They believed the industry needed more rigor and empiricism in place of the hype and vibes. Following the success of their 2022 paper analyzing training compute trends, the group founded Epoch AI to scale up their efforts in researching trends in artificial intelligence.
Over the last few years, Epoch AI has grown into a multidisciplinary, global, and curiosity-driven team committed to supporting people and organizations worldwide in understanding and navigating the rapid evolution of AI technology.
You can learn more about how Epoch came about in this profile by Time magazine.
Consultations
We offer mission-aligned services to companies, nonprofits, and government bodies, including commissioned research, model evaluations, and consultations.
Our past and ongoing partnerships include Stanford’s AI Index and the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation, & Technology, among others.
Interested in working with Epoch AI?
Learn more about our consultationsFunding
As an independent nonprofit, we rely on the ongoing support of donors to continue our research. We value every contribution as a vote of confidence in our work and vision, and we pledge to use it to further our mission of improving our shared understanding of AI. If you would like more information about specific funding needs, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Learn more about our fundingDonate
Support our mission of improving our shared understanding of AI.
DonatePlease contact us at donate@epoch.ai for further details.
Press
If you are a journalist working on a story, please reach out to press@epoch.ai, or call us at +1 (650) 449-7269.