Donation Drive Opens via the Kyoto Community Creation Foundation: Toward a Future Where Humans and AI Evolve Together. Please Support Artificial Life Research

The ALife Institute (Artificial Life Institute, a general incorporated foundation) has opened a donation drive through the Kyoto Community Creation Foundation, a public interest foundation, to support the advancement of artificial life research and the training of the next generation of researchers.

To expand the possibilities of new knowledge from Kyoto to the world, we ask for your support.

▶ Project details and donations (Kyoto Community Creation Foundation)

Our Work in Artificial Life Research and the Future We Aim For

Investment in AI development is expanding on a global scale, yet the research bases remain concentrated in university-affiliated labs and giant tech companies. Funding tends to be prioritized for research directly tied to short-term profit and practical deployment, and neutral, independent research bases where researchers can pursue basic research with a medium- to long-term perspective are scarce. In Europe and the United States, independent institutes such as the Santa Fe Institute have lifted the level of research; Japan, by contrast, has had almost no equivalent.

To address this challenge, we founded the Institute at our Kyoto-Gojo base (Research House in Kyoto-Gojo), led by Mizuki Oka, who teaches at a university. Based in Kyoto, with its distinctive cultural soil of “asking questions deeply and quietly,” we are building a neutral, donation-based organization free of corporate or university affiliation, creating an environment where researchers can devote themselves to basic research with peace of mind and for the long term.

As an independent non-profit research institute, we advance artificial life (ALife) research. Through the study of “open-ended evolution” and “collective intelligence” that arise from the interactions of diverse agents, we aim to establish a technological foundation and a vision of society in which humans and AI continue to learn and change together.

We will also work with advisors including Takashi Ikegami, a world authority on complex systems and artificial life, and Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s first Minister of Digital Affairs, to raise the international presence of Japanese ALife research. Through international conferences that bring together researchers, CTOs, and entrepreneurs from Japan and abroad, we will enhance Kyoto’s appeal as an academic and research hub and present a new model for sustainable non-profit basic research.

Our Initiatives

We are promoting and planning the following activities:

1. Advancing basic research on open-ended evolution and collective intelligence Going beyond improving the capability of a single AI, we aim to understand the intelligence that emerges from the interaction of diverse agents, through basic research and presentation of results in Japan and abroad.
2. Scholarships, research grants, and nurturing young researchers We aim to provide a stable research environment by hiring researchers, providing research grants, and hosting young interns. A named scholarship program is planned to start in 2027.
3. Planning and hosting the annual ALife Summit conference We are preparing to host the annual ALife Summit conference.
4. A membership program (ALife Membership) and opportunities for exchange We are considering establishing a membership program and offering opportunities for dialogue and exchange with researchers.

How Donations Are Used and Reported

Donations will be used with care for scholarships and research grants for young researchers, the cost of hiring researchers, the cost of improving the research environment at our Kyoto-Gojo base, and the cost of hosting and promoting the ALife Summit.

Major donors will receive an annual report (research progress and activity summary), and we will provide opportunities for direct progress reports at events such as the ALife Summit. We will also publish our business reports and financial statements transparently through our official website and social media.

Donation Details

Campaign overview

• Goal: 20 million yen
• Campaign period: October 23, 2026 – September 10, 2027
• Donations accepted by: Kyoto Community Creation Foundation (public interest foundation)
• Payment methods: Credit card, bank transfer, postal transfer

Tax benefits

Donations to the Kyoto Community Creation Foundation are eligible for tax benefits such as donation deductions. For eligibility requirements and procedures, please see the Kyoto Community Creation Foundation’s tax guidance (Japanese).

▶ Donate to artificial life research / Project details

We sincerely ask for your warm support.