By GovFresh · October 8, 2019
The National Science Foundation announced $120 million in funding for a new organization -- the National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes -- "that will significantly advance research in AI and accelerate the development of transformational, AI-powered innovation."
From the announcement:
The program, led by NSF in partnership with the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, has both planning and institute tracks. The planning track will support planning grants for up to two years and $500,000 to enable teams to develop collaborative plans and capacity for full institute operations. The institute track will support cooperative agreements of $16 million to $20 million for four to five years (up to $4 million per year) for the creation of AI Research Institutes in an initial set of high-priority areas:
Trustworthy AI
Foundations of Machine Learning
AI-Driven Innovation in Agriculture and the Food System
AI-Augmented Learning
AI for Accelerating Molecular Synthesis and Manufacturing
AI for Discovery in Physics
...
Earlier this year, NSF joined other federal agency partners in announcing the release of the 2019 Update to the National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research and Development (R&D) Strategic Plan. In addition, Advances in AI are core to many of the "10 Big Ideas for Future NSF Investments," key among these being Harnessing the Data Revolution and the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier.