Tokyo-based AI startup Sakana AI has announced a new partnership with Japanese telecom giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) to jointly research and develop AI constellations - an architecture that connects numerous small AI models to work together as an intelligent collective.
The collaboration aims to address the high computational demands of today's largest AI models by distributing workload across specialized, lightweight models. This approach could enable more sustainable AI by dramatically reducing energy consumption.
Sakana AI was founded earlier this year by former Google Brain execs David Ha and Llion Jones. The founders have shared expertise in designing individual AI models as well as architecting multi-agent systems.
Meanwhile, NTT has over 40 years of natural language processing research and is working on advanced technologies like IOWN to fuse optics and electronics for sustainable data infrastructure. Earlier this month, NTT unveiled Tsuzumi, an energy-efficient Japanese language model.
By combining their capabilities, the companies hope to pioneer a revolutionary new paradigm for AI. The AI constellation architecture distributes specialized AIs across nodes like a network of stars forming a constellation.
The modular, decentralized approach means each AI handles only what it's designed for instead of relying on one monolithic model. This allows for leaner, greener AI while enabling emergent collective intelligence as AIs cooperate autonomously.
NTT CTO Yukihiro Kawazoe said the partnership will help provide new AI architectures globally. He's excited about the potential for new collective knowledge to help solve complex societal issues.
Sakana AI CEO David Ha said the natural world inspired their vision of efficient, swarm-like intelligence. Partnering with NTT will help realize the sustainability goals of IOWN through this game-changing technology.
The companies will jointly research and develop the technical foundations for AI constellations as well as new multi-modal language models that can create value in new ways.
The announcement signals growing momentum around reinventing AI systems to overcome the exploding carbon footprint of today's largest models. Pioneering approaches like constellations and composable, specialized AI could be instrumental in birthing a new wave of AI that works smarter, not harder.