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$1 billion awarded for 12 quantum information services and artificial intelligence research institutes

September 10, 2020
By: Connor LaVelle

Over $1 billion has been awarded for the creation of 12 new quantum information services (QIS) and artificial intelligence (AI) research institutes across the country over the course of the next five years, according to an announcement from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation. With this investment, the White House hopes the newly created institutes will “spur cutting edge innovation, support regional economic growth, and advance American leadership in these critical industries of the future.”

NSF, alongside the Department of Agriculture, has focused an investment of $140 million towards the development of seven new AI Research Institutes across the country, based primarily on university campuses. NSF predicts that throughout the following year these new research hubs will also draw over $300 million in additional investments. A map of the recently announced Research Institutes, along with details on each Institute’s focus, may be found here.

DOE’s awards total $625 million, to be distributed over the next five years, aiming to help establish QIS Research Centers at Argonne, Brookhaven, Fermi, Oak Ridge and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories. The focus of these centers will include research into quantum computing, sensing, networking, and the development of additional research tools and equipment. More information about DOE’s Quantum Information Services Initiative may be found here.

These recent awards are in addition to NSF’s July announcement of $75 million towards the creation of three new “Quantum Leap Challenge” Institutes and NSF’s announced 2021 partnership with private technology companies such as Google, Intel, and Amazon. Through these investments, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy hopes to surpass the previous year’s total spending in the sector as outlined in the report Artificial Intelligence & Quantum Information Science R&D Summary: Fiscal Years 2020-2021.

dept of energy, nsf, artificial intelligence, supercomputing