The US National Science Foundation (NSF), an agency that funds fundamental research and engineering, unveils a cutting-edge artificial intelligence research initiative, with support from NVIDIA. In a major step toward building a shared national research infrastructure, NSF launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot program with significant support from NVIDIA.
The initiative, in partnership with 10 other federal agencies, as well as private sector, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations aims to expand access to the tools needed to fuel responsible discovery and innovation in AI.
“The breadth of partners who have come together for this pilot highlights the urgency of developing a National AI Research Resource for the future of AI in America,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “By investing in AI research through the NAIRR pilot, the United States unleashes discovery and impact and strengthens its global competitiveness.”
NVIDIA's commitment of $30 million in technology contributions over two years is a key factor in expanding the scale of the pilot, fueling the potential for broader outcomes and accelerating momentum toward large-scale implementation.
“The NAIRR is a vision of a national research infrastructure that will provide access to computing, data, models and software to empower researchers and communities,” said Katie Antypas, director of the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure at NSF.
“Our primary objectives for the NAIRR pilot are to support fundamental AI research and industry-specific research applying AI, reach broader communities, particularly those not currently able to participate in the AI innovation ecosystem, and refine the design for the complete NAIRR future,” added Antypas.
“AI is increasingly defining our era, and its potential can be better realized with broad access to its transformative capabilities,” he said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.
NVIDIA's collaboration with science centers aims to significantly expand educational and professional training programs, improving AI literacy and skill development across the science community. NVIDIA will leverage the insights of researchers using its platform, providing the opportunity to refine and improve the effectiveness of its technology for science and supporting continued advancement in AI applications. “With NVIDIA AI software and supercomputing, scientists, researchers and engineers from NSF's extended community will be able to use the world-leading infrastructure to power a new generation of innovation,” Huang said.
Accelerating both AI research and AI research, NVIDIA's contributions include NVIDIA DGX Cloud AI supercomputing resources and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software.
As part of this national effort, the NAIRR pilot brings together a coalition of government partners, showcasing a unified approach to advance AI research.
Its partners include the US National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the United States Department of Defense.
The NAIRR project promises to drive innovations across sectors from healthcare to environmental science, positioning the United States at the forefront of global AI advancements. NAIRR will provide access to advanced computing, datasets, models, software, training and user support for US-based researchers and educators.
“Smaller institutions, rural institutions, institutions that serve underrepresented populations are key communities that we are trying to reach with NAIRR,“Antypas said.”These communities are less likely to have resources to build their own computing or data resources.“ Future investments in NAIRR will democratize access to AI innovation and support critical work to advance the development of trustworthy AI.
#NSF #Launches #NAIRR #Pilot #Project #Big #Leap #Research
