Where world-class AI research becomes real companies.
The AI2 Incubator grew out of one of the most influential AI research hubs in the world—the Allen Institute for AI (AI2). Founded in 2014 and shaped by more than a decade of groundbreaking research, the incubator specializes in applied AI: taking cutting-edge ideas and turning them into products, companies, and venture-scale outcomes.
AI2 has been backed by over $100M annually from the Paul Allen estate and major donors, supporting more than 200 researchers and engineers who have produced 1,100+ papers and earned 60+ best paper awards. Many field-defining breakthroughs emerged from this environment, including YOLO, which transformed computer vision, and ELMo, one of the early pillars of modern language models.
The incubator’s leadership comes directly from this ecosystem.
Prof. Oren Etzioni, founder of the AI2 Incubator and former CEO of AI2, is a pioneer in machine learning, reasoning, and large-scale information extraction.
He helped launch early winners such as Xnor (acquired by Apple) and Kitt, before expanding the incubator with Jacob Colker and Vu Ha, who helped build Semantic Scholar.
Yifan Zhang joined the leadership team in 2023 as the incubator became an independent entity.
Their combined experience—spanning academia, venture creation, and product innovation—forms the incubator’s DNA: early, embedded, and relentlessly hands-on with applied AI long before the current wave of hype.
The core team has worked with or built over 100 startups, bringing expertise across product strategy, go-to-market, fundraising, legal, and scaling. They bring a founder-first mindset informed by real experience going from zero to one—and beyond.
Whether shaping your product, navigating early technical decisions, refining your pitch, or solving messy real-world problems, their approach is simple: no theory without application. No AI without impact.
Seattle, Washington, United States