The National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes is a United States research and development program led by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that funds large, multi-institution research centers dedicated to artificial intelligence research, education, and workforce development. Announced in 2019 and first awarding grants in 2020, the institutes as a combined ecosystem comprise the largest AI research program funded by the U.S. federal government. The program awards up to US$20 million to each institute over five years. By 2024, four funding cohorts had created 27 different institutes located across more than 40 states, with total funding allocation approaching US$500 million.
History
The NSF announced the National AI Research Institutes program in 2019. The first solicitation funded seven institutes that began work in 2020. A second cohort of 11 institutes was added in 2021, and a third cohort of seven institutes was announced in May 2023. The 2023 awards, valued at US$140 million, established centers focused on subjects such as trustworthy AI, cybersecurity, climate-land interactions, and inclusive education. These institutes included the AI Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society, the AI Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation, and the AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence.
In September 2024, the NSF and the Simons Foundation announced two NSF-Simons National AI Research Institutes for astronomy. The NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins at the University of Texas at Austin and the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky at Northwestern University will each receive US$20 million in joint funding to apply AI to large astronomical data sets. Representing more than 500 participating organizations, these two centers joined 25 existing institutes, bringing the network to 27 institutes.
Program structure and goal
Each National AI Research Institute is conceived as a long-term, multi-institution collaboration that advances fundamental AI research while addressing a real-world challenge. According to a 2024 article in AI Magazine, the program had established 25 institutes by early 2024, collectively involving more than 100 organizations and 680 professionals. The institutes pursue a use-inspired research framework in which AI advances are motivated by needs in domains such as climate, agriculture, energy, health, and cybersecurity.
Beyond research, the institutes are tasked with developing new AI curricula, broadening participation in the AI workforce, and fostering partnerships between academia, industry, and government. The program contributes to all nine strategic objectives of the National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan. The institutes conduct long-horizon AI research while developing curricula, certificates, and K-12 outreach to train a diverse AI workforce; partnering with industry, non-profits, and state or local governments for technology transfer; and embedding ethics, security, and social-impact considerations in AI system design.
Institutes
The program awards institutes through themed solicitations, often in partnership with other federal agencies or private foundations. Examples include the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA), launched in 2021, which develops AI-driven digital twins and predictive models to improve agricultural resilience; the AI Institute for Engaged Learning (EngageAI), which investigates narrative-based learning and human-AI collaboration; and the AI Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Operation (ACTION), established in 2023, which builds AI agents to anticipate and mitigate cyber threats. The NSF-Simons AI Institute for Cosmic Origins and the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (both announced in 2024) apply AI techniques to astrophysics and cosmology and include outreach and workforce development programs.
Funding mechanism
The 2020 cohort included the AI Institute for Research on Trustworthy AI in Weather, Climate and Coastal Oceanography at the University of Oklahoma; the AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning at the University of Texas at Austin; the AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming at the University of Colorado Boulder; the AI Institute for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management and Sustainability (AIFARMS) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; the AI Institute for Molecular Discovery, Synthetic Strategy and Manufacturing at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and the USDA-NIFA AI Institute for Agricultural AI (AgAID) at Washington State University, a joint NSF/USDA award.
The 2021 cohort included the AI Institute for Edge Computing Leveraging Next-Generation Networks (ATHENA) at Duke University; the AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (ALOE) at Georgia State University and Georgia Tech consortium; and the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture at Iowa State University. The 2023 cohort added the Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society (TRAILS) at the University of Maryland; the AI Institute for Agent-based Cyber Threat Intelligence & Operation (ACTION) at the University of California, Santa Barbara; the AI Institute for Climate-Land Interactions, Mitigation, Adaptation & Tradeoffs (AI-CLIMATE) at the University of Minnesota; and the AI Institute for Exceptional Education at the University at Buffalo.
Reception and impact
Trade publications covering the 2023 awards described the National AI Research Institutes as a critical component of the United States' AI innovation infrastructure. Campus Technology reported that the NSF's US$140 million investment in the 2023 cohort expanded the network to nearly every state and raised the program's cumulative investment to about US$500 million. EdTech magazine noted that NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan called the institutes a "critical component of our nation's AI innovation, infrastructure, technology, education and partnerships ecosystem." Government technology news outlet GovTech wrote that the 2024 NSF-Simons institutes join 25 existing institutes and represent collaborations between more than 500 institutions worldwide. A 2024 federal R&D report characterized the program as the country's largest AI research ecosystem and recorded federal investments of US$118.5 million in FY 2023 and US$69 million in FY 2024.