Simula involved in 3 national AI research centres by the government’s “AI Billion”

Simula will host a new national research centre for artificial intelligence: “Sustainable, Risk-averse and Ethical AI (SURE-AI).” Additionally, Simula is involved in two more centres, MishMash and AID. This is a major achievement.

This is a part of the government's landmark “AI Billion” investment, a one-billion-kroner initiative to advance research and innovation in artificial intelligence. The size of this historic investment in AI research in Norway is without parallel.

"This is a milestone for AI research in Norway. In these centres, our leading academic and research environments will conduct pioneering research that will put Norway firmly on the international AI map. They will ensure that we build and retain the best, most up-to-date expertise here in Norway. The centres are a collaboration between experts from academia, industry, and the public sector," said Sigrun Aasland, The Minister of Education, in a press release from the Norwegian government. 

Simula’s involvement - in a nutshell

Most notably, Simula will lead one of these centres—the only research institute in Norway to be given this honour. Simula will host the SURE-AI centre, pioneering the next generation of AI that is sustainable, secure, and aligned with human-centric values, and it will be led by Professor and Chief Research Scientist Baltasar Beferull-Lozano. Simula is also research partner in two additional centres, for an involvement that will broaden our impact.

Partners in:

• AID (AI-Decisions) with NTNU as host and SimulaMet as partner
• MishMash (AI & Creativity) with the University of Oslo as host and SimulaMet as partner

Simula’s CEO, Lillian Røstad said, “This is a milestone for Simula and for AI research in Norway. We are incredibly proud and grateful for the trust placed in Simula and our partners. This is a result of long-term efforts, a recognition of our strong research groups and our ability to do excellent research that benefits society.” 

Olav Lysne, Director of SimulaMet, had this to say about the AI centre involvement: ”Artificial intelligence is a rapidly developing technology. In the years to come, it will affect most aspects of society and the way we live our lives. At SimulaMet, we are proud to be able to lead one of the most important initiatives in Norway in this field.”

Why the SURE-AI centre is needed

The urgency of this work is multifaceted. The rapid expansion of AI technologies brings significant challenges, including excessive energy consumption, lack of transparency, ethical misalignment, and risks associated with unpredictable behaviour in real-world applications. These issues demand innovative methodological approaches to ensure AI evolves in a sustainable, risk-averse, and ethical manner, incorporating the ethical attributes directly into the AI designs

Professor Baltasar Beferull-Lozano said, “With SURE-AI, we are committed to addressing these challenges head-on. Our goal is to create AI that is not only technologically advanced but also environmentally sustainable, cost-efficient, ethically sound, and robust in real-world applications. The primary objective of SURE-AI is to pioneer a new generation of algorithms for inference, decision-making and control that are resource-efficient, environmentally sustainable, risk-averse and ethically aligned with humans, providing also performance guarantees under realistic scenarios- a transformative shift in AI.” In addition to being the leader of the new centre, Beferull-Lozano, the Chief Research Scientist at Simula and Department head for Signal and Information Processing for Intelligent Systems (SIGIPRO), is also involved in the other two centres. 

About the SURE-AI centre

The SURE-AI centre will focus on developing the next generation of AI algorithms that are powerful, efficient, sustainable, trustworthy, and human-aligned. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into all aspects of society, from healthcare to energy management, the work of SURE-AI is crucial for ensuring that these technologies are developed and deployed responsibly.

This will be achieved through a multi-faceted approach that includes:

• Advancing the theoretical foundations of AI to enhance efficiency, resilience, and scalability.
• Ensuring the rigour, explainability, and performance guarantees for AI models.
• Integrating risk awareness into AI design to guarantee safety and robustness.
• Aligning AI with ethics, human values, and seamless human-AI interaction.
• Fostering collaboration between academia and industry to translate cutting-edge research into practical solutions.
• Educating the next generation of AI experts and engaging with the public to build a broad understanding of AI’s societal impact.

The Centre will be an interdisciplinary hub, bringing together leading experts in signal processing, data science, mathematics, computer science, energy engineering, economics, social sciences and ethics. By partnering with national and international academic institutions, industry leaders, and public sector organisations, SURE-AI aims to position Norway at the forefront of sustainable and ethical AI innovation.

Centre research manager, Thomas Surowiec said, “SURE-AI will demonstrate the transformative power of mathematics to drive long-term innovation in AI. What truly sets it apart is the range of perspectives between our technical and social science experts; by placing economists and social scientists at the core of our work, our diverse team ensures our ambitious goals are guided by a deep understanding of human and societal needs.” 

In general terms, SURE-AI has a two-fold mission: a) international scientific impact by publishing at the top level, with the goal of our fundamental research influencing clearly the current major global AI technology leaders, b) practical impact on the Norwegian public and private sector by providing them with specific, new research-driven solutions, and closing the gap between academic research and industry.

SURE-AI centre partners

• Simula Research Laboratory, Centre host
• Stiftelsen handelshøyskolen BI
• Universitetet i Oslo (UiO)
• Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet (NTNU)
• Universitetet i Tromsø (UiT)
• Cicero senter for klimaforskning (CICERO)
• Institutt for energiteknikk (IFE)
• Institutt for samfunnsforskning (ISF)
• SINTEF AS
• Rystad Energy AS
• Refenitiv Norge AS - LSEG
• NBIM-Norges Bank
• NCE Finance Innovation
• Scalemem AS
• Dolphin Interconnect Solutions AS

The centre also has a significant international anchorage to ensure that research holds world class. Several leading universities are among the international partners in the centre: 

• Switzerland: ETH Zürich, EPFL
• England: Imperial College London, University College London (UCL)
• USA: University of Southern California (USC), UC Berkeley, George Mason University (GMU)
• France: CNRS, INRIA
• Netherlands: TU Delft
• Spain: University of Deusto
• Austria: University of Vienna

In addition, SURE-AI will have strategic international institutional partnerships with the TU Delft AI initiative, the INRIA-AI department, CNRS/Université Côte d'Azur-AI team, and will also exploit current collaborations between SURE-AI team members with the Alan Turning Institute, EPFL AI Center, Oden Institute and Institute for the Foundations of Machine Learning (IFML) at UT Austin, USC Frontiers of Computing, INFORMED-AI in UK, and the ELLIS network. 

These collaborations are crucial to bring key competence to Norway and to ensure that the centre operates fully on the international research front in AI.

Shaping a responsible future with AI

The SURE-AI centre is expected to deliver far-reaching impacts. In pioneering resource-efficient and ethically sound AI, where different types of risks are also managed, the centre is positioned to build more public trust and transparency in these powerful technologies. Innovations from the centre will drive progress in critical areas such as climate action, renewable energy, finance and social equality. At the same time, its work will likely shape policy for AI governance, solidifying Norway's leadership in the global conversation on responsible AI.

Committed to responsible leadership and societal Impact

This news represents a profound vote of confidence in Simula to collaborate on the future of artificial intelligence and Norway’s role in this field on a global scale. As a leader of SURE-AI and partner in AID and MishMash, Simula fully embraces its responsibility to guide AI's development with purpose, which aligns directly with our core mission: solving fundamental ICT problems for societal benefit through research, education, and innovation.