NVIDIA Joins NSF State and Regional AI Hubs Program to Expand AI Research and Education Across the US

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The US National Science Foundation has launched a State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs program with NVIDIA as a private-sector partner. The program funds state or multi-state university consortia that pool AI computing, software, educational resources, and technical support — using flexible hybrid on-premises and cloud approaches.\n\nThe model draws explicitly on a 2020 NVIDIA-University of Florida partnership (co-funded by NVIDIA co-founder Chris Malachowsky) that converted UF into a national AI university testbed. That initiative produced 300+ AI-focused faculty, embedded AI education across all 16 of UF's colleges, and attracted over $511 million in AI research awards since 2017. The NSF program builds on the NAIRR (National AI Research Resource) pilot that NVIDIA already contributed to.\n\nNo specific funding amounts for the new program or participating institutions were disclosed. The initiative frames workforce development — preparing students for AI economy roles — as equally important to hardware access. NVIDIA's participation positions its hardware and software stack as the default infrastructure for US academic AI research, extending a competitive moat beyond commercial deployments.