Stanford, Swiss Institute Launch Human-Centered AI Alliance
On January 22, 2026, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, a significant collaboration was announced between the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI and the Swiss National AI Institute (SNAI), which is jointly led by ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL). This memorandum of understanding sets the stage for a long-term partnership focused on advancing AI research and education, particularly in the development of large-scale foundation models and their societal implications.
This collaboration brings together three prestigious institutions committed to shaping the future of AI through rigorous, open, and socially responsive research. Professor Annette Oxenius, Vice President for Research at ETH Zurich, articulated the alliance’s vision, stating, “This alliance strengthens academia’s ability to shape the future of foundation models – open, trustworthy, inclusive, and with societal impact at the core.”
Professor James Landay, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, emphasized the importance of international collaboration, noting, “This collaboration unites leading researchers across continents to advance human-centered AI. By combining our complementary expertise, we can accelerate work on foundation models that advance science while serving society.”
Under the framework of the agreement, SNAI and Stanford HAI will launch joint initiatives spanning research, education, and innovation. A highlight of these initiatives will be the creation of open-source, open-data multimodal foundation models, aimed at encouraging interdisciplinary research while promoting transparency, reliability, and accessibility in AI development.
Menna El-Assady, Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich and faculty member at the ETH AI Center, shared her insights on the collaboration, stating, “By joining forces with Stanford HAI, we are uniting leading ecosystems to advance human-centered AI that truly benefits society. Our focus on intelligence augmentation ensures that we design foundation models that empower people, keeping human values and agency at the core of technical progress.”
A pivotal aspect of this partnership is the establishment of benchmarks and evaluation frameworks for the responsible design and deployment of foundation models. This step is vital for fostering accountability and comparability in the increasingly influential domain of AI systems.
As the landscape of foundation models evolves rapidly, this initiative reflects a decisive commitment to open science and a responsible approach to AI development. By integrating Switzerland’s national AI initiative with Stanford’s established expertise in human-centered AI, the collaboration stands to enhance research on models that resonate with societal values and cultural diversity. Stéphanie Lacour, Vice-President for support to Strategic Initiatives at EPFL, expressed enthusiasm for the endeavor, stating, “We are excited about this collaboration which lays the groundwork for a transatlantic research ecosystem that is open, inclusive, and capable of shaping the future of AI beyond commercial interests.”
Researchers affiliated with ETH Zurich, EPFL, and Stanford will greatly benefit from this strategic partnership through joint workshops, researcher exchanges, shared computing resources, and involvement in international AI networks, thus fostering new opportunities for interdisciplinary and impactful AI research.