Adam RollinsFollowing the launch of the Massachusetts AI Hub in December 2024, Gov. Maura Healey has executed a number of updates intended to promote ongoing AI development and expansion. The updates include a $31 million investment, the appointment of the hub’s first director and exploration of ongoing public-private partnerships (P3) to advance AI technologies.
The $31 million grant will go toward expanding access to sustainable high-performance computing needed for AI innovation. As part of the award, the state of Massachusetts will create the Artificial Intelligence Compute Resources (AICR) environment at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC). The environment will facilitate AI innovation by providing an adequate level of compute and data capacity.
Access to AI technologies and infrastructure will be made more readily available as a result of this partnership. Entities that will benefit from expanded accessibility include public and private higher education institutions, Massachusetts residents and startups and businesses invested in innovation.
MGHPCC has six participating universities: Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts and Yale University. These institutions will partner with the state to use the AICR to propel AI innovation to chosen economic sectors, reaching an estimated $120 million investment over the next five years.
The AICR initiative is not the only P3 announced as part of the state’s efforts to develop itself as a leader in AI ecosystems. In addition to its work with MGHPCC, the state is pursuing an agreement with two leading technology companies to create an incubator for AI startups based in Massachusetts.
The hub named Sabrina Mansur as its first executive director. Mansur is an experienced leader in the AI industry and will be responsible for the hub’s direction in developing and supporting a thriving, ethical AI ecosystem across the state. She brings more than two decades of
experience as a leader in AI, autonomous systems and emerging technologies, promoting strategy and technology development as cornerstones of her work. She officially assumed her responsibilities on May 5.
Massachusetts’ updates on the state’s AI ventures are the latest in its efforts to drive innovation and place the state as a global leader in creating AI solutions. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) pioneered a challenge to direct more than $3 million toward supporting groundbreaking AI model development projects in February. Initiatives supported through this program critical enhancements to industries vital to the economy, including:
- Advanced manufacturing.
- Climatetech.
- Education.
- Financial services.
- Health care.
- Life sciences.
- Robotics.
The same organization distributed another $1.9 million in March to help recipient labs launch a groundbreaking “Applied AI” program targeting AI breakthroughs in biotech.
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