NVIDIA Joins NSF State and Regional AI Hubs Program to Expand AI Research and Education Across the US

NVIDIA is joining the US National Science Foundation (NSF)'s State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs program. This program aims to expand AI-based research and education by supporting universities and research institutions in jointly leveraging high-performance computing, data, software, and technical expertise.

State and regional university consortia can collaborate with private companies, foundations, and state and local governments to build infrastructure tailored to regional priorities. This can take the form of on-premises infrastructure, cloud computing, or a hybrid of both, supporting resource sharing between institutions, accelerating research and innovation, and cultivating AI talent.

This hub model draws inspiration from a collaboration initiated in 2020 by NVIDIA, co-founder Chris Malachowsky, and the University of Florida (UF). UF disseminated AI education and research across the university, integrating AI into 16 colleges and expanding its AI faculty to over 300 members.

NVIDIA has also been a key contributor to the NSF-led NAIRR (National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource) pilot program. NAIRR provided university research teams with computing resources, tools, and expertise to translate ideas into experiments and research outcomes, while offering students practical experience needed for the AI industry.

The program emphasizes not only infrastructure expansion but also AI workforce development. Universities and community colleges can establish degree programs, short-term certifications, and tiered credentialing programs to provide learning pathways from foundational AI understanding to practical skills.

NVIDIA plans to provide educational content, instructor support, technical guides, partner platforms, and hands-on tools to help institutions leverage AI in fields such as physical AI, automation, healthcare, energy, agriculture, manufacturing, quantum computing, and cybersecurity.