NSF State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has launched the State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program to democratize access to high-performance computing, specialized datasets, and software tools necessary for frontier scientific discovery. The initiative addresses disparities in computing availability by funding flexible regional hubs organized as consortia between universities, state/local governments, private industry, and philanthropic institutions. While participating consortia independently secure funding for cloud or on-premises compute infrastructure, NSF grant funding directly supports consortium coordination, dedicated technical staff to assist researchers, and workforce development. Grants also focus on faculty training and the creation of modernized curricula designed to integrate artificial intelligence across various STEM disciplines. Awards are structured as 5-year cooperative agreements with anticipated funding between $4,000,000 and $12,000,000 per project. NSF limits awards to a single hub per state or multi-state region, encouraging unified collaborative proposals that strengthen state and regional innovation ecosystems.