While SA universities face budget pressure after cuts to US funding earlier this year, the University of the Witwatersrand has received a major boost.
The Wits Machine Intelligence and Neural Discovery (MIND) Institute has been awarded $1m (about R17.5m) from Google.org to expand its work in artificial intelligence (AI). The money will support new research projects, help train students and strengthen Africa’s role in shaping global AI.
The MIND Institute, launched in November 2024, has quickly grown into a hub for leading researchers. Its director, Prof Benjamin Rosman, a recent entrant in Time magazine’s TIME100 AI 2025 list, told TimesLIVE the Google.org support was financial and symbolic, recognising the importance of African-led science.
African-led AI research for global impact
The goal was not simply to apply AI tools developed elsewhere but to create new knowledge from the continent. “We don't want SA to be consuming technologies built elsewhere, but to be building them here as well.”
Rosman said the institute is focused on the “fundamental science of intelligence”, asking deep questions about how AI is developed and how it connects with society. This approach makes the centre unique on the continent, as most research elsewhere focuses on applying existing technology to local data sets.
The institute brings together academics across disciplines. While AI forms the core, collaborators also come from fields such as neuroanatomy, neuropsychology, philosophy and evolutionary science.
Funding expands projects and student opportunities
According to Rosman, the funding will help grow this critical mass of thinkers, enabling more ambitious projects and supporting students.
“This comes down to everything from student support to seeding new projects and enriching this ecosystem of our leading thinkers,” he said. The investment would also strengthen the institute’s ability to make AI safe, ethical and aligned with society.
Rosman described the grant as the product of long-standing collaboration with Google.org, which has previously supported other Wits initiatives.
“This was a new sort of direction we’ve been discussing,” he said, noting that Google.org had “really stepped up” to back the MIND Institute.
The institute already hosts more than 25 projects. Some explore traditional areas such as health sciences, diagnostics and education. Others are more unusual. One study brings together an engineer, an anatomist and a psychologist to test how sleep deprivation affects AI models, which may also shed light on human cognition. Another investigates elephant communication, combining AI with animal intelligence research.
“These are the sort of questions people haven’t thought about before,” Rosman said, adding that new funding would allow such projects to expand while encouraging bolder ideas.
Such projects may seem obscure, but they are in line with Mind’s philosophy of addressing important issues that go beyond the typical uses of AI.
MINDFund encourages bold ideas
Central to this effort is the MINDFund, a programme designed to support innovative ideas from MINDFellows, the institute’s cohort of cross-disciplinary academics.
The institute’s MINDFund provides seed money for research proposals involving at least two fellows from different disciplines. The system is designed to push academics out of safe, familiar approaches.
“In a sort of research environment you’re not really incentivised to think outside the box. You’re usually incentivised to go with a formula that’s worked in the past. But we want to think bigger.”
Students were central to the institute’s success. They not only bring fresh ideas but also carry out much of the practical research.
The Google.org support would allow more students to join projects and benefit from interdisciplinary exposure.
A lot of our work is grounded in working with people from other African countries, keeping these lines of collaboration open, having joint projects, setting up new initiatives.
— MIND Institute director Prof Benjamin Rosman
Rosman also highlighted the practical impact AI could have in everyday life.
“AI is about digitising and scaling intelligence.” He pointed to possible applications in healthcare diagnostics, logistics for getting goods from farms to shops, reducing climate emissions in financially viable ways and improving school curricula. “All of these are problems that, with the correct tools, we should be able to do a better job in the service of people.”
Though based in Joburg, the institute has a strong pan-African outlook. Rosman said they are preparing to expand the MIND Fellows programme to include academics from around the continent.
He also pointed to his involvement in the Deep Learning Indaba, launched in 2017, which has grown into the largest machine learning summer school in the world, drawing about 1,300 participants at its most recent gathering in Rwanda.
“A lot of our work is grounded in working with people from other African countries, keeping these lines of collaboration open, having joint projects, setting up new initiatives.”
Africa as a global AI innovator
International recognition of the institute reflects a wider shift in how Africa’s contributions are seen. “There’s been a changing perspective globally of what Africa has to bring to the party rather than just being recipients, being a place with incredibly rich, deep talent, deep thought, different perspectives and the ability to contribute.”
Asked whether Google.org support marked a turning point, Rosman described the grant not as a turning point but as an important step in a longer journey.
“This is a fundamental step to see this level of engagement from a huge international player and that’s what we’re doing here in Africa is important and should be supported and has global relevance.”
Wits vice-chancellor Prof Zeblon Vilakazi welcomed the grant, calling the MIND Institute “a bold experiment in converging natural and AI research”.
“This funding from Google.org reinforces our shared vision for enhancing Wits’ historical role, from the first computer to the Radar, in placing SA, and the rest of Africa, at the cusp of technological development.”
For Rosman and his team, the message is clear: the future of AI must include African voices, not as passive recipients, but as innovators.
“We believe it’s important for Africa and SA to have a seat at the same table as the people developing this technology,” he said.
As the institute scales its projects and recruits more fellows, the hope is that Google.org’s investment will not just fund experiments but also secure Africa’s place in shaping the technologies that will define the coming decades.
TimesLIVE
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