MIT announced a $1 billion computing and AI initiative on October 15, 2018, centered on the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. The plan connected computing with subjects across the Institute, rather than creating a college devoted solely to AI research.
Correction, November 5, 2026: The $350 million founding gift came from Stephen A. Schwarzman personally. The $1 billion initiative covered faculty, education, research and a new building, rather than construction alone.
The gift and the faculty plan
According to MIT’s announcement, Schwarzman, Blackstone’s chairman, CEO and co-founder, provided the founding gift. The college would bear his name. The announcement did not identify Blackstone itself as the donor.
MIT planned 50 additional faculty positions: 25 focused on computing within the college and 25 appointed jointly with departments elsewhere at MIT. These were new positions to be created, not a claim that 50 people had already joined.
Computing across disciplines
The proposed structure would support computer science, AI, data science and their use in other fields. Then-president L. Rafael Reif described an education that combined technical capability with attention to technology’s effects on people.
In his letter to faculty, Provost Martin Schmidt linked the plan to growing student interest in computing and combined fields of study. He described a shared structure in which other disciplines could help shape computing research, as well as use its tools.
What was still being decided
The announcement targeted September 2019 for opening the college. The provost’s letter made clear that implementation work remained: a dean search, faculty consultation and working groups would address structure, appointments, degrees and teaching support. The announcement was a plan for expansion, not an admissions notice or a guarantee of a particular new degree.
For more research coverage, visit our AI section or read about MIT’s health-sensor research.
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