Hochul will propose an AI research center using $275 million in state funds

In her third State of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul will propose a unique statewide consortium that brings together public and private resources to place New York at the forefront of the artificial intelligence landscape.

Under the plan, Ms. Hochul would spend $275 million in state funds to build a center that would be used jointly by six of the state’s research institutions, including the State University of New York and the City University of New York.

Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute would each contribute $25 million to the project, known as “Empire AI.” Additional private funding has been secured through the Simons Foundation and from billionaire Thomas Secunda, who helped found Bloomberg LP.

The initiative’s futuristic focus stands out from many of the governor’s other proposals, which aim to combat problems such as medical debt, literacy and maternal mortality.

Ms Hochul described it as an important investment that would strengthen the state’s economy for years to come and help offset the gaps between technology companies and academic institutions in the race to develop AI.

“This is not just a win for the future of technology – this is a win for the institutions across the state that will benefit from the growth of this technology,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement.

New York’s push to develop AI comes at a time when such research faces new challenges. Researchers are developing artificial intelligence technologies by exposing AI models to vast amounts of information, much of which comes from the Internet. But lawsuits against the owners of that information — including The New York Times — have raised questions about who should have access to it and for what reasons.

Ms. Hochul will also have to sell her proposal to the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, which will weigh it against many other priorities. This year, those negotiations will have to take into account a looming budget deficit.

Many progressives favor raising taxes on the wealthy, but Ms. Hochul has so far declined to go that route, saying raising taxes would drive high earners out of the state.

Ms. Hochul’s economic strategy so far has included a series of major investments — such as a $5.5 billion stimulus package to secure Micron’s new facility outside Syracuse — that she hopes will boost New York’s place in the tech market will secure.

The new project has some high-profile supporters: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman applauded the proposal, saying such private-public partnerships were “critical to the development and deployment of safe and useful AI technologies.”

Julie Samuels, the president and executive director of Tech:NYC, which represents companies such as Google, Microsoft and Meta, said the consortium would attract not only academics but also companies eager to hire top talent.

Companies like Microsoft and Google have long dominated the space largely because they have had access to the precious computing resources and data that AI systems require. That advantage has also allowed tech companies to attract researchers to private industry, where they can earn much more than at academic institutions.

“We’re in some ways not able to compete in the way that we would like to,” explains Jeannette Wing, professor of computer science and executive vice president for research at Columbia University.

And while the consortium would not completely level the playing field between the public and private sectors, it could give researchers access to tools that were previously inaccessible.

“The industry is developing so quickly; they don’t actually have time to think about the long-term future of where this technology is going. That is the role of academia,” said Dr. Wing, adding that researchers could also answer ethical questions that people in the industry might have less reason to think about.

Still, some questioned the state’s plan, which would involve creating its own cloud computing infrastructure rather than building on existing platforms like Amazon or Google — a logistically complicated undertaking that could also raise concerns about safety and reliability.

“It’s a huge effort,” said Oren Etzioni, former technical director of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. “Is this going to reinvent the wheel to put a Big Apple stamp on it, or a New York State stamp on it? That can be very worrying.”

Ms Hochul’s team emphasized that a key aim of the project was to challenge the monopoly of big tech companies on AI, enabling collaborative research in the public interest.

Proponents say such a collaboration would allow academics to apply AI technology to entirely new fields – from urban planning to medicine and music.

“I would actually like to see the people who do the weather have access to stronger computer systems,” New York’s director of operations, Kathryn Garcia, said in an interview the day before a snowstorm was expected to hit the state.

“I have a prediction that can range from ‘maybe nothing’ to ‘maybe a lot,’” she added. “When you try to plan for something and be prepared for something, our current weather models are not keeping pace with the direction of climate change.”

Cade Metz reporting contributed.