The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence was founded by Paul G. Allen. Allen is a technologist and leading philanthropist who started Microsoft with Bill Gates. He is founder and chairman of Vulcan Inc., the company that oversees his business and philanthropic activities.

Today, Allen continues the search for knowledge that inspired the creation of Microsoft and has become one of the most generous and best-known philanthropists in America. His multibillion-dollar investment portfolio includes a major real estate redevelopment in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood and holdings in dozens of technology, media and other companies.

He also owns the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League, the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association, and is part of the primary ownership group for the Seattle Sounders FC, the city's Major League Soccer team.

In 2004, Allen funded SpaceShipOne, the first privately-backed effort to successfully put a civilian into suborbital space, winning him and designer Burt Rutan the Ansari X-Prize. In 2011, Allen got back into the space business with the formation of Stratolaunch Systems which is developing an innovative airborne launch system. It will utilize the largest aircraft ever manufactured and will provide orbital access to space with greater safety, cost-effectiveness and flexibility.

Idea Man, Allen's 2011 memoir, was a New York Times best-seller. His independent film company, Vulcan Productions, has won numerous awards for feature films and documentaries.

With lifetime giving exceeding $1.5 billion, Allen has also pledged to leave a majority of his estate to philanthropy. He gives back to the community through the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, which aims to transform individual lives and strengthen communities by supporting arts and culture, youth engagement, community development and social change, and scientific and technological innovation. He also gives directly, including $256 million in 2010 to Washington State University's for the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health.

In 2003, he founded the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. He has committed $500 million to support the Institute mission to accelerate understanding of the human brain in health and disease. It pursues innovative and unprecedented large-scale initiatives that result in public resources, knowledge and tools intended to fuel discovery throughout the broader scientific community.

Allen is also founder of the EMP Museum, Seattle's critically-acclaimed interactive museum of music, popular culture and science fiction; the Flying Heritage Collection, an assemblage of rare World War II aircraft restored to flying condition and shared with the public; and the Living Computer Museum, a collection of restored vintage timesharing computer equipment.

Learn more about Allen online at www.paulallen.com.