microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI are among companies working with the U.S. National Science Foundation and other federal agencies on the National AI Research Resources pilot program to connect researchers with AI research infrastructure. The program supports advances in “safe and trustworthy AI,” according to the NSF announcement.
What is the National AI Research Resource?
The National AI Research Resource is a pilot program to provide access to resource-intensive AI training and operational infrastructure, such as Microsoft Azure and privacy and security resources. The pilot program will “strengthen and democratize access to critical resources needed to drive responsible AI discovery and innovation,” according to the announcement.
“By investing in AI research through the NAIRR pilot, the United States unlocks discovery and impact and strengthens its global competitiveness,” NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said in the announcement.
One of NAIRR's stated goals is to incubate “commercially viable AI applications and solutions” through industry collaboration.
SEE: Security researchers identified a GPU vulnerability that could allow attackers to listen to conversations with generative AI (TechRepublic)
The NAIRR pilot program focuses on four areas:
- NAIRR Open will enable several open and diverse AI resources.
- NAIRR Secure will support AI research that requires resources to preserve privacy and security and is co-led by the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Energy.
- NAIRR Software will enable and study interoperable use of AI software, platforms, tools and services used for NAIRR pilot resources.
- NAIRR Classroom will be an outreach program for communities.
NAIRR is part of the plan outlined in the executive order on AI development issued by President Joe Biden in October 2023.
Which technology companies participate in NAIRR?
Some of the technology companies, nonprofits and philanthropies that have provided resources to NAIRR include:
- AWS
- anthropic
- Maryland
- Data Brinks
- Hewlett Packard Company
- hugging face
- IBM
- Intel
- Goal
- microsoft
- Nvidia
- Open AI
The full list of 25 organizations can be found here.
Government partners include NASA, DARPA, NIST, and the following:
- National Institutes of Health.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- US Department of Agriculture
- United States Department of Defense.
- US Department of Energy
- US Department of Veterans Affairs
- US Patent and Trademark Office
How could NAIRR impact businesses or business use of AI?
Major US AI technology organizations will have a path through which to work directly with government-supported researchers and vice versa. This speaks to the government's interest in working with companies that use and create AI, and the adoption of AI into the mainstream. The United States is the highest-ranked country in AI adoption, according to Harvard Business Review, followed by China, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany.
“We hope that by contributing our data intelligence platform to NAIRR, we will enable the next generation of students to create new breakthroughs and build new businesses in AI,” Jonathan Frankle, chief scientist at Databricks, wrote in the announcement.
How to take part
NAIRR is accepting applications from private sector and nonprofit organizations interested in becoming partners. Interested researchers can request access to limited NAIRR resources on the NAIRR pilot portal now. A call for proposals from interested researchers will open in spring 2024 with the full set of NAIRR resources.
