NAIRR 2023

Strengthening & Democratizing
the U.S. AI Innovation Ecosystem

Hosted by SeedAI with participation from the NAIRR Task Force

After 18 months of public meetings and deliberation, the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Task Force fulfilled its Congressional mandate, unanimously approving a guide to the policy and practical aspects of building a national resource for AI research. Click here to read more at the official AI.gov page.

On March 1st, join us for a discussion of the report and what should come next.

“We will only realize [the potential of AI] when many more kinds of researchers have access to the powerful capabilities that underpin AI advances.”

Dr. Arati Prabhakar

Director

Office of Science and Technology Policy

“...the NAIRR could build AI capacity across the nation and support responsible AI research and development, thereby driving innovation and ensuring long-term U.S. competitiveness [in AI]”

Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan

Director

U.S. National Science Foundation

“[the NAIRR] will resource the genius of neglected communities across the country, and pave the way for a new era of partnerships, discoveries, and economic growth.”

Austin Carson

Founder and President

SeedAI

Featured Speakers

Arati Prabhakar

Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Assistant to the President for Science and Technology

Sethuraman Panchanathan

Director

National Science Foundation

Senator Mike Rounds

U.S. Senator

South Dakota

Chairman Michael McCaul

U.S. Representative

Texas 10th District

Fei-Fei Li

Sequoia Professor of Computer Science,

Denning Co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-centered AI

Nicol Turner Lee

Senior Fellow, and Director, Center for Technology Innovation

The Brookings Institution

Daniela Braga

Founder & CEO

Defined.ai

National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) refers to a system that provides researchers and students across scientific fields and disciplines with access to computational resources, co-located with publicly available, artificial intelligence-ready government and non-government datasets, and a research environment with appropriate educational tools and user support.

From the Report: “The impact of the NAIRR will be significant and far-reaching, enabling researchers to tackle problems that range from routine tasks to global challenges.

If successful, the National AI Research Resource would transform the U.S. national AI research ecosystem and facilitate the ability to address societal-level problems by strengthening and democratizing participation in foundational, use-inspired, and translational AI R&D in the United States.”

Final Report: Key Takeaways

The NAIRR should be established with four measurable goals in mind, namely to (1) spur innovation, (2) increase diversity of talent, (3) improve capacity, and (4) advance trustworthy AI. The NAIRR should meet these goals by supporting the needs of researchers and students from diverse backgrounds

The NAIRR should provide access to a federated mix of computational and data resources, testbeds, software and testing tools, and user support services via an integrated portal.

The NAIRR must be broadly accessible to a range of users and provide a platform that can be used for educational and community-building activities in order to lower the barriers to participation in the AI research ecosystem and increase the diversity of AI researchers.

The NAIRR should set the standard for responsible AI research through the design and implementation of its governance processes.

NAIRR implementation should occur over four phases, beginning immediately after the publication of the report: (1) program launch (2) Operating entity startup (3) NAIRR initial operational capabilities (4) NAIRR ongoing operations

Background Videos

Cornerstone: The Potential of the National AI Research Resource

SeedAI: NAIRR Initiative Highlights