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Stevens Donate $200 M, USC Renames AI School

5/6/2026

Summary

Stevens Fund AI

Mark and Mary Stevens donated $200 million to USC for artificial intelligence research, prompting the computing school’s renaming.
Their total gifts to USC now total $292 million, including a prior $92 million donation.
USC will rename the school the USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
President Beong-Soo Kim said the gift enables interdisciplinary strengths as USC launches an AI bachelor’s program this fall.

Summary

Stevens Funds AI

A $10 million gift created the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Center for Orthobiologics and funded Bloom Football Performance Center.
Gaurav Sukhatme directs the USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and AI, which Stevens family funded with $22 million in 2004 and $50 million in 2015.
The school occupies the Ginsburg Computation Hall opened in 2024.
Its AI projects support neurodegenerative disease diagnosis, suicide prevention, and military training via Institute for Creative Technologies.

Summary

USC Forms AI

USC formed an AI committee to draft policies on classroom use, curriculum, academic integrity and ethics.
Faculty member Sanjay Mahdav warned that reliance on ChatGPT may erode critical-thinking skills and urged AI guidelines.
Teaching professor Amy Eguchi called for guardrails as AI proliferates, noting uncertainty about what students need to learn.
School of Cinematic Arts promotes AI as a creative tool but stresses it will not replace human artistry.

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Stevens Fund AI

Mark and Mary Stevens donated $200 million to USC for artificial intelligence research, prompting the computing school’s renaming.
Their total gifts to USC now total $292 million, including a prior $92 million donation.
USC will rename the school the USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
President Beong-Soo Kim said the gift enables interdisciplinary strengths as USC launches an AI bachelor’s program this fall.

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