The National Science Foundation is leading the launch of a pilot program aimed at giving U.S.-based researchers and educators access to artificial intelligence technologies, training and user support.
The National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot involves NSF and 10 other federal agencies, as well as 25 organizations from the private sector and nonprofit and philanthropic backgrounds, the foundation said Wednesday.
NAIRR will foster AI discovery and innovation by facilitating data access and bridging R&D professionals, NSF stated. Arati Prabhakar, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology and Wash100 inductee, explained that the pilot “will give researchers access to critical data and compute, catalyzing action to achieve America’s great aspirations.”
“The pilot program is a critical step in driving usage of HW & SW with AI Technologies. Intel is looking forward to sharing deep technical knowledge on the usage of Intel platforms (CPU, GPU, accelerators, and other ecosystem ingredients), software tools, and optimization support which are critical for NAIRR initiatives,” remarked Steve Orrin, chief technology officer of Intel‘s federal business, one of the partners in the pilot program.
Kathleen Fisher, director of the Information Innovation Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, also shared DARPA’s role as a pilot partner. “National security applications of AI will require high levels of trust and proficiency. By providing the NAIRR pilot datasets cultivated through DARPA programs, we aim to accelerate research in critical areas of interest to the Department of Defense, such as AI theory, AI engineering and human-AI teaming,” said Fisher, who will be one of the speakers at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5th Annual Artificial Intelligence Summit.
The summit, which aims to address the increasing adoption of AI in the federal sector, will take place on March 21 in Falls Church, Virginia. Register now to be part of the event.
