ELLIS Institute Finland launch and the AI Summit

Published: 19.11.2025

The AI Summit brought together researchers, business leaders and policymakers from across Europe and the world. Jointly organized by ELLIS Institute Finland, Foundation PS and AI Finland, the Summit also served as the official opening of the Institute. A Scientific Seminar the following day gathered the ELLIS community for a more intimate, research-focused event. Photos from both days are below.

AI Summit on November 17, 2025 in Turku, Finland

Photos by Vesa-Matti Väärä

Two people in dark clothing having a conversation — Peter Sarlin (Foundation PS) and Samuel Kaski, director of ELLIS Institute Finland

Two men smiling men standing in front of a large screeen — Bernhard Schölkopf (ELLIS Institute Tübingen) and Serge Belongie (University of Copenhagen), past and current presidents of the ELLIS Society

Five people holding a cut gold ribbon with text in background: OFFICIAL OPENING OF ELLIS INSTITUTE FINLAND — Peter Sarlin, Serge Belongie, Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, Bernhard Schölkopf and Samuel Kaski cut the ribbon to officially open ELLIS Institute Finland

Samuel Kaski speaking with fingers raised — Samuel Kaski speaks on stage

Many people seated in two tiers in the Logomo auditorium — The audience in the Logomo auditorium in Turku

Five people sitting on sofas on a stage, with their photos projected overhead. One person standing on the right next to a podium — Kyunghyun Cho (NYU), Amy Loutfi (Örebro University), Negar Kiyavash (EPFL), Jaakko Lehtinen (Aalto University/NVIDIA), Bernhard Schölkopf (ELLIS Institute Tübingen) speak at the panel on Frontiers of AI research, moderated by Serge Belongie

Five people seated on sofas on stage with text in background: ELLIS Panel II Connecting Science and Society — Moderator Oliver Molander with panelists Alexandra Gylfe (Nordic Science Investments), Ilkka Paananen (Supercell), Nina Laaksonen (WithSecure) and Kristo Ovaska (Taito.ai)

Six people sit on a stage with text in background: PANEL I: EUROPE'S COMPETITIVENESS, GROWTH AND SECURITY — Moderator John Thornhill (FT), panelists Bengt Holmström (MIT), Janne Jaakkola (Finnish Defence Forces), Jussi Westergren (University of Oxford), Elina Valtonen (Foreign Minister, Finland), Björn Wahlroos

Neil Lawrence standing at a podium speaking with text in background: State of AI research and technology in Europe — Neil Lawrence (University of Cambridge) opens the panel on the State of AI research and technology in Europe

Five people sit on sofas on a stage with audience visible in foreground. Text in background reads PANEL II: STATE OF AI RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY IN EUROPE — Moderator Larissa Holzki (Handelsblatt) and panelists Laurent Sifre (H Company), Laura Ruotsalainen (University of Helsinki), Max Welling (University of Amsterdam), Neil Lawrence (University of Cambridge)

Meredith Whitaker speaking with an opened book in hand — Meredith Whittaker (Signal Foundation) opens the panel discussing State of AI companies and startups in Europe

Six people seated on stage with their pictures projected overhead. Text in background: PANEL III: State of AI companies and startups in Europe — Moderator Kristine Alanko (NestAI), Anton Osika (Lovable), Meredith Whittaker (Signal Foundation), Max Junestrand (Legora), Jacomo Corbo (PhysicsX), Thomas Wolf (Hugging Face)

Group of people standing in front of curtains. Samuel Kaski in center holds a small square blackboard with the word LAUNCHED written on it — The vice-rectors for research from most Finnish universities who are partners of ELLIS Institute Finland, and Samuel Kaski holding the institute's symbolic launch blackboard

Five people smile while clinking glasses — The ELLIS Institute Finland administration team toast the launch

One person clapping and another holding a clear glass award — Samuel Kaski receives the award for Visionary AI Leader of the Year at the AI Finland Gala

Five people holding a cut gold ribbon with text in background: OFFICIAL OPENING OF ELLIS INSTITUTE FINLAND

The institute launched as part of the AI Summit in Turku in November 2025

More about the AI Summit jointly organized by ELLIS Institute Finland, Foundation PS and AI Finland

ELLIS Institute Finland Scientific Seminar on November 18, 2025 at Aalto University, Espoo

Photos by Matti Ahlgren/Aalto University

Man with a microphone, standing next to a laptop and a banner — John Shawe-Taylor (UCL) acted as Master of Ceremonies for the Scientific Seminar

Man speaking in front of a screen with two people in shadow in the foreground — Institute director Samuel Kaski opens the Scientific Seminar

Woman standing at podium with laptop — Giada Pistilli (Hugging Face) presents research on AI companionship

Audience in a large room facing a screen with a person speaking at the front of the room — Audience at the Scientific Seminar in Marsio, Aalto University, during Giada Pistilli's presentation

Man speaking at podium with raised hands. A laptop is in the podium and a banner is to the side — Kyunghyun Cho (NYU) presents 'Learning to X'

Man stands at podium with laptop — New adjunct professor Eric Malmi (Aalto University) presents his work on LLMs that can play board games

Woman holds a microphone while standing in front of a podium with a laptop — New ELLIS Institute Principal Investigator Qi Chen (Aalto University) presents her research

Man standing at podium with laptop, holding a microphone — New ELLIS Institute Principal Investigator Jiancheng Yang (Aalto University) presents his research

Five people seated in a semicircle of chairs in front of a screen. One person standing in front of a banner to the side. — Chen, Yang, Malmi, Pistilli and Cho take questions, moderated by Shawe-Taylor

Three people with microphones seated in chairs — ELLIS President Serge Belongie (University of Copenhagen) and Peter Sarlin (Foundation PS) discuss ecosystem development for AI research in Europe, with moderator Amanda Alvarez (ELLIS Institute Finland)

Four people seated in chairs — Serge Belongie, Laura Ruotsalainen (University of Helsinki), Max Welling (University of Amsterdam) and Jessica Montgomery (University of Cambridge) participate in a panel discussion on Europe's agenda for AI in science

Women in a red sweater standing at a podium with a laptop — Florence d'Alché-Buc (Institut Polytechnique de Paris) discusses her research on optimal transport

Man speaking in front of a laptop on a podium — Andrea Ganna (University of Helsinki) presents his research on disease prediction

Man gestures towards a screen, with laptop on podium nearby — Mark Girolami (The Alan Turing Institute) on Autoencoders in function space

People mingling in front of a large stage and screen — Cocktail reception at Marsio, Aalto University

ELLIS Institute Finland Scientific Seminar

Scientific seminar and launch on 18 Nov 2025

See the event program

People mingling in front of a large stage and screen

Institute launch highlighted scientific priorities and collaborative directions for AI research in Finland and across Europe.

Updated: 28.11.2025
Published: 19.11.2025