NSF puts $100 million into state and regional AI infrastructure hubs and $83 million into data systems
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced up to 10 state or regional AI infrastructure hubs worth $100 million and a separate $83 million program for integrated data systems, both tied to the White House Genesis Mission.
The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a $100 million program on Aug. 4 to create state and regional AI infrastructure hubs, funding up to 10 hubs with one award per state or region, according to the agency.
NSF said the hubs are intended to accelerate AI-driven scientific discovery and innovation by widening access to computing, data and AI resources, and will take the form of statewide or multi-state consortia in which research institutions, philanthropies, state and local governments and the private sector pool resources. The agency said its investment will cover consortium coordination, the development of an AI infrastructure workforce, and faculty training and curriculum development, with each hub working with regional industry so that training matches local job demand. The announcement noted that access to AI infrastructure in the United States is unevenly distributed by region.
Hubs are encouraged to connect to national resources such as the NSF-led National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource, including through dataset sharing and resource expansion, and to work with the TechAccess: AI-Ready America effort and the Campus Research Computing Consortium, NSF said. The program supports the White House-led Genesis Mission and responds to recommendations in the July 2026 Office of Science and Technology Policy report “Science: A New Golden Age” and to the fiscal 2028 research and development priorities memorandum. NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Dell Technologies, Hangar and the Secunda Innovation Fund have indicated an intention to support participants, according to the announcement, which included statements from NSF acting director Brian Stone and OSTP director Michael Kratsios.
The hubs follow an $83 million investment announced on July 22 through NSF’s Integrated Data Systems and Services program, which the agency said will broaden researchers’ access to the data infrastructure they need alongside computing and AI resources. NSF said the program complements NAIRR and its other cyberinfrastructure investments, supports the Genesis Mission, and is aimed at improving how scientific data are collected, stored, shared and analyzed across NSF facilities, research centers and national laboratories.
Under IDSS, NSF said it will link data systems, AI models and computing resources, build shared platforms for finding and reusing data, and provide access to AI tools and high-performance computing. A number of planning grants were also awarded to help teams develop future Category I and Category II proposals. Stone’s remarks were included in that announcement as well.
Separately, on July 27 NSF published a podcast in which NSF-supported researcher Qing Cao described a new monolithic 3D-integrated silicon microchip and discussed the effect such chips could have on artificial intelligence systems.