National Science Foundation funds AI-driven research and infrastructure hubs

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is launching major initiatives to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure for scientific research. Northwestern University has been awarded $20 million to establish the AI-Driven, Rapid, Experimental Automation Machine (DREAM) Cloud Lab. This facility, part of the university's Center for Synthetic Biology, will serve as a publicly accessible hub for protein engineering, utilizing AI and robotics to accelerate biotechnology innovation.

Additionally, the NSF has introduced a State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs program with approximately $100 million in available funding. This initiative aims to decentralize access to high-level computing, moving beyond elite institutions to include regional consortia, research institutions, and community colleges. While the NSF will fund workforce development, faculty training, and coordination, the program requires regional partners to provide the actual computing, data, and cloud infrastructure.