The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced Wednesday that it is partnering with some of the biggest names in tech to launch the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot program.
The NAIRR pilot is designed to create a national resource for researchers and educators to access powerful AI technologies, with the goal of ensuring the U.S. remains a leader in AI research and innovation, according to NSF.
Companies and nonprofits joining the two-year pilot program include some of the biggest names in the AI industry, including Amazon (AMZN), Anthropic, Hugging Face, IBM (IBM), Intel (INTC), Meta (META). ), Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), OpenAI and Palantir (PLTR) and others.
Federal agencies involved in the effort include the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Agriculture.
NAIRR, which emerged from President Biden's AI executive order, will serve as a framework for how the government and private sector can advance AI technologies in the future.
Nvidia is among a number of companies providing support to the National Science Foundation for its National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) program. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
“By investing in AI research through the NAIRR pilot, the United States is unlocking new insights and impact and strengthening its global competitiveness,” NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said in a statement.
“To continue to lead in AI research and development, we must create opportunities across the country to advance AI innovation and strengthen educational opportunities to enable the country to shape international standards and stimulate economic growth.” , he added.
According to the NSF, NAIRR will function as a shared national infrastructure, providing communities across the country with the hardware, models and resources needed to advance the AI ecosystem.
The program, the NSF said, is necessary because AI resources have become concentrated and difficult to access for many communities, be they smaller colleges or institutions in rural areas and territories.
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Examples of possible use cases include the possibility for an AI researcher to study validation and verification of large models, or for an instructor at a community college or minority institution to provide students with access to AI systems.
Technology companies, the foundation said, are not paid to provide access to their services but rather provide in-kind contributions to those provided by government agencies.
Contributions include support for 20 research projects from Amazon, access to Anthropic's Claude model for 10 researchers working on climate change projects, 100 computing grants from Hugging Face, data sets and benchmarks from IBM, $20 million Computing credits for Microsoft's Azure and $30 million in support from Nvidia, including $24 million worth of computing power for the company's DGX platform.
Daniel Howley is a tech editor at Yahoo Finance. He has been reporting on the technology industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielHowley.
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