Capital One and Illinois Partnership Launches ASKS Center

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  4. Capital One and Illinois Partnership Launches ASKS Center
Capital One center at Illinois.

Through a longstanding partnership, Capital One and the Grainger College of Engineering Siebel School of Computing and Data Science launched the Center for Generative AI Safety, Knowledge Systems, and Cybersecurity. The ASKS center's mission is to advance the safety, security and trustworthiness of Generative Artificial Intelligence Models across domains.  

Capital One employee with student.

Capital One is providing $3 million over five years, providing support to faculty research projects and Ph.D. students through fellowships focused on GAIM research. This support will be determined through an annual call for proposals decided by an advisory board comprised of Capital One and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign representatives. 

The ASKS center is built on the innovation-driven partnership between Capital One and Illinois. Since 2015, the Capital One Tech Incubator Lab at Illinois has allowed students to explore cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies. These students are transforming the future of financial services by working alongside Capital One’s applied researchers and experts. 

“With the launch of ASKS, we are doubling down on our mission to find solutions to the most challenging problems in AI, while providing a platform for the next generation of AI leaders in the U.S. to gain exposure to solving some of the most pressing industry problems through novel advances in science and technology." - Prem Natarajan, Head of Enterprise AI at Capital One. 

GAIMs drive significant advancements across finance, healthcare, entertainment, education and beyond. Although GAIMs have significant potential, there are also several challenges that come with its widespread adoption including trust, safety, cybersecurity, responsibility, robustness and privacy. The ASKS center is dedicated to advancing state-of-the-art research and education to enable GAIMs to make accurate, safe and responsible decisions. 

The ASKS center will host a symposium in the Fall of 2025, allowing leading experts to further advance the mission of the center and explore opportunities to expand on broader areas of academic and industry research interests.  

Learn more about the center here.