This Fund Will Try To Prevent Skynet From Actually Happening

Skynet, the fictional artificial intelligence system popularized in the "Terminator" franchise which caused a global nuclear war, serves as a far-stretched but legitimate concern for many companies working in the artificial intelligence space.

Consider the fact that Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL Google unit is developing a "big red button" that will immediately "pull the plug" on all of its self-learning machines if the need ever arises to do so.

Even Tesla Motors Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk donated $10 million to fund research aimed at mitigating "existential risks facing humanity" from artificial intelligence robots.

Now LinkedIn and eBay Inc's EBAY founders are joining the quickly growing list of executives worried about a potential "Skynet."

According to Recode, LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman and eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar, each pledged to commit $10 million to a new fund focusing on academic research and development towards preventing artificial intelligence systems that could harm society.

The fund is called The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund and is expected to grow. Its purpose is to research and investigate how artificial intelligence systems focused on education, transportation, criminal justice and other vital fields to society can remain fair and open.