The LaCross AI Institute will enable UVA to coordinate and amplify its research, teaching and engagement in AI across schools, institutes and research centers.
“Now is the time for institutions like the University of Virginia to pool resources and use them to shape what will likely be the most impactful technology of our lifetimes,” said UVA Provost Ian Baucom. “By building on the Darden School’s strengths in educating responsible business leaders and thought leaders on the role of business in society, the LaCross AI Institute will continue to accelerate the University’s impact.”
From voice-activated virtual assistants to AI-powered drug discovery, new technologies are quickly taking center stage. The rise of large language AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini, used in everyday functions, raises ethical questions, including the reliability and quality of training data, the transparency of AI models, and the impact of technology on employment.
Dean Scott Beardsley said the institute represents an opportunity for the Darden School to combine its strengths — such as business ethics, stakeholder theory and technological innovation — and apply them to the promise and challenges of artificial intelligence.
“AI is already a multi-billion dollar business and requires holistic solutions. Our students are hungry for AI skills and knowledge and the LaCross AI Institute can explore the business opportunities for AI across industries and also define what ethical leadership means in the age of artificial intelligence,” Beardsley said.
“Our faculty has worked for decades to integrate ethics into everything we teach and value, and this perfectly positions Darden to set a standard and example for how ethics should be integrated into the development and integration of AI in businesses, while also exploring the AI industry itself.”
Beardsley will chair the institute’s advisory board, which includes many leaders from UVA schools. Darden professors Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Raj Venkatesan will serve as the institute’s academic directors. They are part of a growing group of Darden and UVA faculty involved in teaching, research and practicing AI in education and business.
In October 2023, the LaCross family announced a historic $101 million gift to Darden, indicating its hope to provide $50 million to establish a Darden-led AI Institute to collaborate with UVA schools and initiatives. The gift was expanded to fund chairs in ethical AI in business, including a university chair and a practitioner chair.
“The goal of this institute is to facilitate teaching, research, practical knowledge creation, and constructive exchanges that enable business and society to embrace the continued expansion of artificial intelligence in ways that take into account its impact on humans,” said Dave LaCross. “Kathy and I are thrilled to support the University of Virginia and the Darden School of Business in this important work.”
The LaCross family’s $62 million investment in AI at Darden is one of the largest AI gifts to a business school in the world.
For more information about the LaCross Institute for Ethical Artificial Intelligence in Business, visit Darden School of Business Website.
