It aims at improving national capacity in extreme weather preparedness, next-generation workforce development and agricultural resilience and sustainability.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced they are establishing seven new artificial intelligence (AI) institutes across the country to accelerate research, expand America’s workforce and transform the future of American agriculture. Advancements in AI research have broad applications that can create economic, health and safety benefits across multiple industries and all levels of education.
This national network of Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes represents the nation’s most significant federal investment in AI research and workforce development to date. The $20 million investment in each of five NSF AI institutes and two USDA-NIFA AI Institutes is just the beginning.
“This major Federal investment in next generation agriculture signals our commitment to keeping American agricultural innovation on the leading edge of global science,” says NIFA Acting Director Parag Chitnis. “These future-focused centres of innovation will use the latest techniques from all corners of science including molecular science, engineering, and robotics to seek solutions for myriad challenges facing agriculture, from crop improvement and animal welfare to labor shortages and farm safety.”
By partnering U.S. scientific powerhouses, USDA-NIFA and NSF, with the U.S. Department of Homeland’s Security Science and Technology Directorate, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and U.S. public research universities, these institutes will serve as hubs in a broader nationwide network aimed at improving American competitiveness and transforming key areas of society. The AI Institutes’ research will improve our national capacity in critical areas such as extreme weather preparedness, K-12 education advancement, next-generation workforce development and agricultural resilience and sustainability.
“The AI institutes being awarded today comprise large, multi-disciplinary, and multi-sector collaborations: they bring together consortia of dozens of universities and other organizations, ultimately spanning academia, government, and industry,” says Michael Kratsios, U.S. Chief Technology Officer. “In effect, over the next five years, some of the best minds in the country will be tackling some of the grandest challenges that we face, both in terms of new AI techniques as well as breakthroughs in fields of science and engineering and sectors of our economy. And along the way, they will nurture the future American workforce in AI research and practice.”
