Over the years, top AI/ML research has become more and more centralized thanks to companies like OpenAI, DeepMind, etc. This has its pros and cons, but I think it would be great for the field to have more independent researchers with the flexibility to explore new ideas without being tied to any one institution. Independent research used to be much more common (with pretty great results), and I think especially with the internet and remote work, there’s no reason it can’t make a comeback. To that end, I’ve been working on a platform to connect independent AI researchers to independent backers who can provide ongoing funding on a monthly basis (similar to a Substack or Patreon model). This is definitely a platform I’ll be interested in using myself, but I’m curious to see if others would be as well or to hear any feedback.