With artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology making waves in the digital advertising space, ad tech platform Criteo has launched an open-source AI collaboration to educate on new technologies and developments in the industry.

Backed by a €20M investment, the AI Lab will aim to create interpretable and transparent AI models to support online advertising – through research and findings based on Criteo’s data sets which will be presented to a number of public forums.

The Paris-based initiative is set to drive conversation around the use of data in addition to shaping industry standards for performance measurement, transparency and best practices.

“The goal with the AI Lab is to leverage Criteo’s massive computational power to research and deploy deep learning for advertising now and in the future,” said John Gillan, managing director, UK and Northern Europe at Criteo.  

“Our focus will be on continuing to understand and study shoppers’ behaviours and preferences which will enable our clients to better inform their commerce marketing strategies and ultimately compete – and win –  against the increasingly-dominant online giants.”

The lab leads the company’s efforts to educate the industry on the benefits of AI and machine learning, developing educational resources, training materials, and research reports.

In order to further the industry’s goals, Criteo’s researchers will publish their findings in a variety of public forums, as well as open-source their tools.

“Online advertising—the main economic model behind the Internet—is evolving. Our ability to face these changes must rely on strong fundamental research dedicated to the creation of new principles, models and algorithms,” commented Suju Rajan, VP head of research at Criteo.