National Science Foundation plans to invest $200 million in AI research.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the onset of a new initiative - The National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program that aims to considerably boost AI research and accelerate the progress of AI-based innovation by enabling researchers to focus on large, long-term research projects.
Within the next year, the program plans to invest about $120 million in funding grants and up to six research institutes in order to move AI research forward and create national communication centers for universities, federal agencies, industries and non-profit organizations. Over the next six years, approximately $200 million is expected to be allocated as part of this new funding opportunity for AI research and education.
According to the NSF’s authorities, the initiative to support and further advance AI research has been called by the need to keep up with the rapid progress in the industry and sustain US leadership positions in AI. For the time being, funding the program that has the potential to transform people’s lives in the long run remains a top priority for the National Science Foundation and is supported by a number of federal agencies and organizations.
To start with, the AI Research Institutes program will focus on innovation in six key areas that have a significant impact on the society’s well-being and development, from food inventory management to treatment and disease prevention:
- Reliable AI
- Foundations of Machine Learning
- AI-Based Innovations in Agriculture and the Food System
- AI-Enhanced Learning
- AI for Accelerated Molecular Synthesis and Production
- AI for Discovery in Physics
The program consists of planning and institute sectors. The planning sector will fund planning grants to allow research teams to develop collaborative strategies for further execution. The institute sector will support cooperation agreements for the creation of AI Research Institutes in the above-mentioned set of top-priority areas.
