Reed Hastings is giving back to his roots—with a bold eye on the future. The Netflix co-founder just gifted $50 million to Bowdoin College, his alma mater, to supercharge artificial intelligence education and research in what he calls a fight for the survival of humanity.
Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings is putting serious capital behind the future of artificial intelligence. In a landmark move, Hastings has donated $50 million to Bowdoin College, the liberal arts institution in Maine where he earned his mathematics degree in 1983. The contribution marks the largest single donation in Bowdoin’s 230-year history.
Hastings, who later received a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from Stanford University, says the gift is aimed at preparing future generations to navigate and shape one of the most powerful technological shifts of our time.
“This donation seeks to advance Bowdoin’s mission of cultivating wisdom for the common good by deepening the College’s engagement with one of humanity’s most transformative developments: artificial intelligence,” Hastings said in a statement released by the college.
The funding will be used to hire 10 new faculty members and create a robust infrastructure for AI education. That includes designing new courses, hosting conferences, and launching workshops that explore the ethical, social, and cognitive implications of AI.
Bowdoin President Safa Zaki emphasized the urgency of this mission: “As AI continues to evolve, we must ask fundamental questions about what we value in human cognition—and what roles we want AI to play in society.”
In an interview with The New York Times, Hastings didn’t mince words. “We’re going to be fighting for the survival of humanity and the flourishing of humanity,” he said, underlining both the risks and opportunities AI presents.
Hastings also noted the sheer scale of this technological shift: “The AI change, I think, will be much bigger than the social networking change,” he said. “So it’s important to get started early before we’re overwhelmed by the problems.”
Now serving as Netflix’s executive chairman after stepping down as CEO in 2023, Hastings has an estimated net worth of $6.61 billion according to Bloomberg. His gift signals a growing trend among tech titans who are turning their wealth toward initiatives that aim to shape the ethical and educational frameworks around emerging technologies.