Singapore, Feb 19th 2026 — Today marks the launch of the Sentient Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) remains open-source, decentralized, and aligned with humanity's interests.
As the race toward AGI accelerates, the Foundation emerges at a critical inflection point in AI development — one where the decisions made today will shape whether this transformative technology serves all of humanity or concentrates power in the hands of a few.
The Problem: AGI Cannot Be Owned by Corporations
Today, some of the most powerful foundational models — ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude — are owned and controlled by private corporations. This should not be the case. The technology that may define humanity's future cannot remain locked behind corporate walls, subject to the priorities of shareholders rather than society.
Yet there is reason for optimism. Models like DeepSeek and Qwen have proven that open-source AI can match or even surpass closed-source alternatives. The question is no longer whether open-source AI can compete — it's whether we can build the infrastructure, community, and support systems to ensure it wins.
That is precisely why the Sentient Foundation exists: to empower the researchers, developers, and institutions contributing to truly open-source AI, so that everyone can leverage and contribute to the development of Open Source AGI.
"Just as Linux became the open backbone of the internet, we believe open-source AGI must become the backbone of human progress," said Sachi Kamiya, Director of Venture and Growth at Sentient Foundation. "Our mission is to ensure AGI is never controlled by a single entity and that its development remains transparent, equitable, and aligned with human values."
A Steward for Open AGI
The Sentient Foundation will operate as a neutral, transparent steward of the open AGI ecosystem, with a mandate spanning research, governance, and global outreach:
- Championing Alignment & Safety: Establishing standards to ensure AGI evolves with humanity's values and appropriate oversight
- Global Research Collaboration: Engaging top AI researchers, academic institutions, thought leaders, and governments as ambassadors and advisors
- Developer Support: Distributing grants and supporting the open-source developer community worldwide
- Governance Frameworks: Coordinating inclusive governance structures for responsible AGI development
- Public Advocacy: Leading outreach to position open-source AGI as the path forward for beneficial AI, via public forums such as the Open AGI Summit
Building on Proven Precedent
The Foundation draws inspiration from the most successful open-source movements in technology history. Linux powers the majority of the world's servers. Apache underpins much of the web. Android democratized mobile computing. The Sentient Foundation believes AGI demands the same open approach — but with even greater urgency given the stakes involved.
Relationship with Sentient Labs
The Sentient Foundation works alongside Sentient Labs, the technical research and product organization pioneering applied AI research. While Sentient Labs serves as the innovation engine — conducting research in reasoning, alignment, and multi-agent coordination, and building frameworks like ROMA and open-source models like Dobby — the Foundation ensures this work serves the broader goal of open, aligned AGI.
Join the Movement
About Sentient Foundation
The Sentient Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring Artificial General Intelligence remains open-source and aligned with humanity. Operating with neutrality and transparency at its core, the Foundation promotes global adoption of open-source AGI, champions alignment and safety standards, distributes grants to developers worldwide, and coordinates governance frameworks for responsible AI development.
Website: https://sentient.foundation
X: https://x.com/sentient_found
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sentient-foundation/
Media Contact:
Nicole Teo
This story was published as a press release by Blockmanwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging
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