ATLANTA — Georgia Tech has received an initial $2.25M for the first year of the program, marking the beginning of a $5 million overall commitment from Google.org to help more scientists across the country use artificial intelligence (AI) to advance their research.
AI is helping scientists analyze massive datasets, test ideas faster, and tackle complex problems. But many researchers lack the computing power, tools, or training to use it, and tools built for one computing system often won't work on another. The three-year initiative will make powerful AI tools and computing resources easier for researchers to access, use, and share.
“AI has the potential to reshape how science is done, but that transformation should not be limited to a small number of researchers or institutions,” said Tim Lieuwen, executive vice president for Research at Georgia Tech. “With this investment from Google.org, we can equip researchers at institutions across the U.S. with the tools, training and reusable infrastructure they need to put AI to work, broadening access to these capabilities and accelerating discovery.”
The funding enables Georgia Tech to develop at least 15 AI research tools and workflows scientists can share and reuse. The Institute will also fund 15 research projects — five per year — and provide technical support to approximately 30 additional research teams across the country. By the end of this initiative, Georgia Tech expects 25 to 30 institutions to be actively using the shared tools.
Training will be a major part of the effort, with more than 300 researchers and faculty learning how to use AI in their research and teaching. The program will focus on institutions that have historically had less access to powerful computing, so more researchers can take part in AI-driven science.
The work will be led by Georgia Tech’s Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) and the Center for AI in Science and Engineering, a joint center of IDEaS and the College of Computing. The initiative will build on Nexus, Georgia Tech’s new National Science Foundation-funded AI supercomputer, and connect researchers with Google’s advanced AI computing technology. Together, these resources will make it easier for scientists to use AI tools across different computing systems and share their work with researchers at other institutions.
“One of the biggest opportunities in AI isn’t just to make individual researchers faster. It’s to change the underlying economics of scientific discovery by making leading AI models and capabilities accessible to far more researchers and institutions,” said Sepi Hejazi Moghadam, Head of Foundations of Science, Google.org. “Georgia Tech is a true lighthouse institution, and this investment is designed to build a lasting foundation that expands access to these advanced AI capabilities. By partnering deeply with Georgia Tech to close the capacity gap, we’re helping ensure that scientists across the country, regardless of their institution’s size or historical funding, can harness AI to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”
The announcement comes as Georgia Tech and the City of Atlanta convene leaders from business, academia, technology, investment, and government for Avant South and the inaugural Atlanta AI Summit. These efforts reflect a broader push across Georgia Tech and the region to expand access to AI tools and high-performance computing to solve real-world problems.