On a bright spring day in Helsinki, a crowd of scholars, government leaders, and private philanthropists gathered at Aalto University. It wasn’t just another academic conference or ribbon-cutting ceremony. This was the symbolic birth of something with much broader ambitions—ELLIS Institute Finland, part of a growing European network pushing the frontiers of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The mood was optimistic, and rightly so. With the pre-launch of this institute, Finland is planting a bold flag in the international AI landscape.
Professor Ilkka Niemelä, President of Aalto University, stood alongside Minister of Science and Culture Mari-Leena Talvitie, with other prominent voices like Professor Samuel Kaski and Professor Reko Leino of Åbo Akademi University joining the conversation. What unified this diverse group was a shared belief that AI, when responsibly developed, can reshape not only industries but the way people live and work. The idea wasn’t just to build better algorithms, but to create systems that understand, support, and enhance human capabilities.
At the heart of this initiative lies a powerful blend of academic rigor and visionary funding. While Aalto coordinates the project, the institute is very much a collective national effort. It taps into the deep reservoirs of talent and knowledge found in institutions all over Finland, from the University of Helsinki to the University of Lapland. The funding model also reflects this spirit of collaboration, combining support from Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture with private contributions, most notably from Peter Sarlin’s Foundation PS.
Sarlin, the CEO of Silo AI, has not only been a vocal advocate of the project but a generous backer. Through Foundation PS, he has funded over a dozen AI professorships across Finland, enabling universities to strengthen their capabilities in machine learning, natural language processing, and other essential AI disciplines. These professorships have taken root in a wide range of institutions, including the National Defence University, where Rector Major General Mika Kalliomaa called the donation “an important investment” in securing Finland’s academic leadership in the AI domain.
Walking through the newly inaugurated spaces at Aalto, one could sense the excitement of researchers eager to explore new questions. This institute isn’t just about developing the next big technology; it’s about solving the long-standing problems that have made AI either too narrow or too opaque. Samuel Kaski explained how the institute aims to reshape the way research and development is done—not only by refining algorithms but by inventing better ways for humans and machines to work together. It’s not enough to have smart machines. What matters is that they understand people, context, and values.
That people-first perspective has always been a hallmark of Finland’s AI research. The ELLIS Institute continues the legacy of the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence (FCAI), which has already earned a strong international reputation. Under Kaski’s leadership, FCAI helped create ELLIS Unit Helsinki, the node that is now evolving into this new, more ambitious institute. While the research goals remain grounded in scientific fundamentals, the structure of the institute reflects a growing emphasis on practical partnerships with industry, government, and civil society.
What sets ELLIS Institute Finland apart is not just its national support, but its access to one of Europe’s most powerful computing resources—LUMI, the EuroHPC pre-exascale supercomputer based in Kajaani. This kind of infrastructure is crucial in today’s AI race. With massive datasets, training deep learning models can take weeks or even months without the right computing power. LUMI changes that equation. It allows researchers to iterate quickly, test hypotheses at scale, and run simulations that would be impossible on conventional servers.
And as Europe steps more firmly into the global competition around AI, the significance of such resources can’t be overstated. Bernhard Schölkopf, president of ELLIS, pointed out that the creation of ELLIS Institute Finland signals that European governments are beginning to take this race seriously. With the U.S. and China pouring vast sums into AI development, Europe’s competitive edge may rest on whether it can successfully balance innovation with values like privacy, transparency, and inclusivity.
The Finnish effort is especially compelling because it brings together multiple strands of AI development under one roof. From the mathematical foundations of machine learning to the ethics of language models, the research being undertaken in Finland is broad in scope and rich in interdisciplinary collaboration. Sasu Tarkoma from the University of Helsinki described it as a deepening of already strong ties between universities, reinforced now by national policy and philanthropic investment.
It’s also a story of talent. The call for principal investigators attracted hundreds of applications from around the world, including the United States. That so many top-tier researchers would consider moving to Finland reflects not only the strength of the ELLIS network but the appeal of working in a country that prioritizes quality of life, sustainability, and long-term scientific vision. There’s a growing sense that people don’t just want to build powerful AI—they want to do it in an environment where they feel heard, supported, and inspired.
Peter Sarlin was quick to highlight this balance between excellence and empathy. For him, AI has never been just about performance metrics or commercial applications. It’s about building systems that align with human goals, respect individual autonomy, and serve public good. At the pre-launch, he thanked the many contributors who made the institute possible, noting that what’s being created is not just a building or a lab—but a living ecosystem that will continue to attract and cultivate talent.
Throughout the event, there was a sense that Finland was stepping into a new chapter of its scientific story. One that doesn’t try to replicate Silicon Valley or mirror China’s state-led model, but instead draws on its own strengths—openness, trust, education, and collaboration. For a country of just over five million people, punching above its weight in the AI world requires exactly this kind of vision and partnership.
The conversations continued well after the speeches, with researchers mingling with policymakers and private donors over coffee, chatting not only about neural networks and algorithmic fairness, but also about teaching, public communication, and how AI can support the next generation of students, doctors, and artists. In moments like these, the excitement wasn’t abstract. It felt deeply human—hopeful, curious, and grounded in a belief that technology, when steered thoughtfully, can truly enrich our world.