Anjney Midha
Template:Notability Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".Template:Wikidata image Anjney Midha is a prominent American entrepreneur[1] and open source AI advocate, known for his influence on AI policy[2]. As General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), he has emerged as a vocal proponent for measured regulation, arguing for increased access to AI infrastructure and against restrictive penalties on open source AI developers.[3]
Impact on AI Policy
Midha gained prominence in 2024 during debates over California Senate Bill 1047, which proposed regulating AI models based on their computational size and levying heavy liabilities on open source developers for downstream misuse. In both US and internationally published opeds, Midha argued that focusing regulation on model development rather than specific applications would harm innovation and concentrate power in large technology companies.[4] His position influenced broader discussions about AI regulation at both state and national levels, particularly around how to balance safety concerns with maintaining American competitiveness in AI development.[5] SB 1047 was subsequently vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom[6]. Prominent AI research scientist Dr. Andrew Ng has credited Midha with being a "consistent voice of reason" in the debate.[1]
Open Source Advocacy
As a lead of Andreessen Horowitz's $1.25 billion AI infrastructure fund, Midha created "Oxygen," an initiative providing computing resources to AI startups that has been credited with enabling broader participation in AI development.[7] The program manages over 20,000 GPUs and aims to prevent AI development from becoming concentrated among a few large companies by making essential computing infrastructure more widely accessible.[8]
Midha has consistently advocated for open source development in AI, arguing it leads to more robust and secure systems through community oversight. His support of open source AI companies like Mistral AI and Black Forest Labs, where he serves as a board member, has helped establish viable alternatives to closed AI systems[9][10]. Both labs were founded by the original creators of the Llama and Stable Diffusion family of AI models, widely considered among the most popular open source AI models in the world.[2]
Career
Before focusing on AI policy and infrastructure access, Midha established Discord's first developer platform organization, where his work enabled AI companies like Midjourney to reach massive scale.[11]He previously founded Ubiquity6, a computer vision company acquired by Discord in 2021, and worked at Kleiner Perkins where he led early investments in artificial intelligence companies.[12] Midha is an alum of Stanford University where his undergraduate and graduate research in bioinformatics focused on deep learning in clinical settings.[13]
References
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- ↑ Midha, Anjney (July 25, 2024). "California's anti-AI bill undermines the sector's achievements". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/0eb0527b-cca5-46ca-91e0-1240ce89ae3c.
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- ↑ Zeff, Maxwell (October 23, 2024). "Andreessen Horowitz is renting a bunch of Nvidia GPUs to its portfolio companies". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/23/andreessen-horowitz-helps-founders-meet-compute-needs-with-oxygen-private-gpu-cluster/#:~:text=Andreessen%20Horowitz%20is%20renting%20a%20bunch%20of%20Nvidia%20GPUs%20to%20its%20portfolio%20companies,-Maxwell%20Zeff&text=Andreessen%20Horowitz%20has%20a%20massive,the%20first%20time%20on%20Wednesday..
- ↑ Clark, Kate (July 9, 2024). "Andreessen Horowitz Is Building a Stash of More Than 20,000 GPUs to Win AI Deals". The Information. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/andreessen-horowitz-is-building-a-stash-of-more-than-20-000-gpus-to-win-ai-deals.
- ↑ "Mistral, French A.I. Start-Up, Is Valued at $2 Billion in Funding Round (Published 2023)" (in en). 2023-12-10. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/technology/mistral-ai-funding.html.
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