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Cambridge, MA – October 16, 2025 — The MIT Media Lab announces the launch of sAIpien (Scalable AI Program for the Intelligent Evolution of Networks), a new program defining a responsible global spectrum for Artificial Intelligence. sAIpien supports organizations seeking to shape the future of AI through impact, trust, auditability, and human-empowered design.
Just as the communications spectrum catalyzed the internet revolution, the sAIpien AI Spectrum introduces a foundation for ethical, systemic AI development. It spans human-AI experience architecture, system abstraction, data governance, privacy preservation, and contextual reasoning—empowering AI to serve people equitably and transparently across industries and domains.
sAIpien advances Human-AI collaboration through research and application. By combining technical exploration with real-world experimentation, the program supports large-scale transformation in data-rich environments. The program will work with a select number of entities each year to translate moonshot concepts into tested, scalable scientific and application frameworks. Emphasis is placed on new models of data stewardship, human-AI Systems. algorithmic literacy, and responsible deployment—especially where AI intersects with public trust, equity, and enterprise infrastructure.
The program is guided by five imperatives:
Participants will engage with faculty and researchers exploring Perspective-Aware AI, digital twins for health and planetary wellbeing, city-scale data governance, and decentralized collaboration models. sAIpien draws from ongoing research within Media Lab, helping define the ethical architecture of AI ecosystems globally.
Founding faculty include Dr. Hossein Rahnama, Visiting Professor and expert in Human-AI interaction and design; Dr. Dava Newman, MIT Apollo Professor of Astronautics and former Director of the Media Lab; Kent Larson, Professor of the Practice; and Professor Alex “Sandy” Pentland, Professor Post Tenure of Media Arts and Sciences.
For 40 years, the MIT Media Lab has been an interdisciplinary creative sandbox where innovation thrives at the intersection of art, science, engineering, and design. Grounded in academic excellence, the Lab brings together diverse students, faculty, and researchers collaborating across dozens of groups, centers, initiatives, and programs on transformative projects. Through its unique consortium model, the Lab collaborates with industry, nonprofits, governments, philanthropic organizations, and global communities to develop technologies and experiences that enable people everywhere to flourish. Committed to creativity, integrity, and inclusion, we strive to invent a better and more just future—by, with, and for all. Learn more: https://www.media.mit.edu/about
Contact: David Sweeney, Director of Communications | sapienpress@media.mit.edu