NSF Launches $100 Million Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs Program with Major Tech Partners

Aug 4, 2026

The U.S. National Science Foundation launched the $100 million State and Regional AI Infrastructure Hubs program on August 4, 2026, to establish up to 10 regional consortia. Partnering with major technology firms like NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and Dell, the initiative addresses uneven national access to advanced computing. Modeled after a successful 2020 University of Florida partnership, the program funds coordination, faculty training, and workforce development, while regional partners pool resources to build and operate local compute infrastructure.

NSF AI infrastructure hubs

▪The U.S. National Science Foundation launched the State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program, a $100 million initiative to build state and regional AI infrastructure hubs.
▪The National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program will fund up to 10 regional consortia, with one award made per state or region.
▪The National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program responds to recommendations in the July 2026 report Science: A New Golden Age by Michael Kratsios.

Public-private partnership structure

▪The National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program operates as a public-private cost share where regional consortia build and operate compute, while federal funding supports coordination and training.
▪Private-sector and philanthropic partners supporting the National Science Foundation AI hubs program include NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Dell Technologies, Hangar, and the Secunda Innovation Fund.

University of Florida AI model

▪Since launching its AI initiative in 2020, the University of Florida has grown to over 300 AI-focused faculty and received more than $511 million in AI research awards since 2017.
▪In 2020, NVIDIA, Chris Malachowsky, and the University of Florida formed a public-private partnership to establish the university as an AI-focused institution, serving as a model for the new hubs.

NAIRR pilot outcomes

▪The National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program builds on the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot, which supported over 700 research projects.
▪Under the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource pilot, NVIDIA provided research teams with dedicated access to a minimum of four DGX nodes for at least one month.

Regional compute access gap

▪Access to artificial intelligence infrastructure remains highly uneven across the United States, with academic institutions frequently lacking the compute clusters concentrated in capital-rich areas.
▪The National Science Foundation State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program aims to expand compute access for researchers, students, and educators currently outside the frontier of AI-enabled science.