Hochul's office released the announcement ahead of her 2024 State of the State address Tuesday in Albany.
The new consortium will launch a state-of-the-art AI computing center in upstate New York to be used by the state's leading institutions to promote responsible research and development, create AI jobs and "unlock AI opportunities for the public good," Hochul said.
Empire AI will include seven founding institutions — Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the State University of New York, the City University of New York (CUNY), and the Simons Foundation.
"The University of Buffalo is under consideration as a potential site," the announcement said.
UB is already home to a supercomputing center and multimillion-dollar AI research projects. Last year UB was awarded a highly competitive, five-year, $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, which is developing AI systems to diagnose and treat young children with speech and language challenges.
"Access to the computing resources that power AI systems is prohibitively expensive and difficult to obtain," Hochul's release said. "These resources are increasingly concentrated in the hands of large technology companies, who maintain outsized control of the AI development ecosystem. As a result, researchers, public interest organizations, and small companies are being left behind, which has enormous implications for AI safety and society at large.
"Empire AI will bridge this gap and accelerate the development of AI centered in public interest for New York State. Enabling this pioneering AI research and development will also help educational institutions incubate the AI-focused technology startups of the future, driving job growth," the announcement said.
The consortium will be funded with over $400 million in public and private investments, including up to $275 million from the state in grant and other funding, and more than $125 million from the founding institutions and other private partners, Hochul said.
UB President Satish K. Tripathi made the case for UB as a potential site for the consortium.
"UB has been known nationally and internationally as a leader in AI and data science for over four decades," Tripathi said.
Tripathi said UB already has more than 200 faculty working on "numerous foundational and use-inspired AI projects."
"UB is ready to leverage its supercomputing infrastructure to create AI and data science solutions for our state's and world's most challenging problems," he said.
Besides its National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, UB is top among all New York universities and colleges in receiving support from the NSF's Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, the federal government's primary vehicle for establishing state-of-the-art computing infrastructure at U.S. colleges and universities, Tripathi said.
UB scientists are conducting groundbreaking AI research at UB's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science and its Center for Information Integrity, which recently was awarded a $5.75 million NSF grant to help older adults spot online scams and disinformation.
UB's other current AI-related research projects include using AI to treat brain aneurysms, spot Type 2 diabetes trends, help first responders during natural disasters, modernize manufacturing systems, predict disease progression during aging, and develop new materials for space applications, from satellite sensors to cosmic radiation shields, Tripathi said.
Hochul envisions Empire AI as a partnership of New York State research universities that will help fundamentally change the AI landscape, accelerate research and innovation and create sustained economic impact across the state.
Tripathi described it as a "tech hub" where "public and private research institutions alike can together leverage the vast possibilities of artificial intelligence to solve a spectrum of societal problems — whether in medicine, education, finance, social justice, sustainable technologies or entrepreneurship."
Private partners already on board to invest in Empire AI include the Simons Foundation and Tom Secunda, the governor's office said.
The Simon Foundation's Flatiron Institute is a community of scientists working to advance research through computational methods, including data analysis, theory, modeling and simulation. Secunda is co-founder of Bloomberg LP and the Secunda Family Foundation, which provides millions of dollars a year in grants to conservation, healthcare, scientific advancement and other causes.
Hochul has also directed the state Office of Information Technology Services to issue a first-of-its-kind AI Policy, which establishes principles and parameters for responsible use of AI by state agencies. The policy will ensure that agencies remain vigilant about evaluating the risks of using AI systems and protecting against unwanted outcomes, the governor's office said.
© 2024 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
