By Sydney Lake
Publication Date: 2026-05-07 07:03:00
As Big Tech competes to win the AI race, America’s top universities are also clamoring for the best resources to study and research the technology. And the University of Southern California just got a massive bet from one of the country’s most prominent venture capitalists to place them squarely in the competition.
On Tuesday, USC announced Mark Stevens, a billionaire venture capitalist, Nvidia board member, and Giving Pledge signer, and his wife, Mary, are donating an eye-popping $200 million to launch a universitywide AI initiative.
This marks one of the largest gifts in the school’s 146-year history. In recognition, USC’s School of Advanced Computing, housed within the Viterbi School of Engineering (one of the top engineering schools in the country), will be renamed the USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence.
“As a top destination for AI talent, USC can accelerate our mission of educating future leaders, addressing real-world problems, and enhancing human values and agency,” USC President Beong-Soo Kim said in a statement.
The $200 million donation will fund the recruitment of AI researchers and back work spanning health sciences, security, business, and the arts.
“We know the next great universities will be those that invest in computing,” Stevens, who is also a USC alum, said in a statement. “This is a key moment.”
Who is Mark Stevens?
Stevens, 66, earned his bachelor’s degree in…
