Inbizzy, Seattle, Washington – The National Science Foundation (NSF) and NVIDIA have launched a major public–private collaboration, providing a combined $152 million to support the Open Multimodal AI Infrastructure to Accelerate Science (OMAI) initiative. The project, led by the Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), will develop fully open multimodal AI models expressly designed to serve the U.S. scientific community. This effort supports the broader objectives of the White House AI Action Plan.
NSF’s contribution amounts to $75 million, while NVIDIA is committing $77 million, covering both compute infrastructure and software, including access to NVIDIA’s HGX B3000 systems and AI Enterprise platform.
“Bringing AI into scientific research has been a game-changer,” said Brian Stone, NSF Chief of Staff and Acting Director. “These investments are not just about enabling innovation; they’re about securing U.S. global leadership in science and technology and tackling challenges once thought impossible.”
Dr. Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, emphasized that the partnership embodies the spirit of the White House AI Action Plan, stating that it “demonstrates the power of the American innovation ecosystem.”
Driving Open Innovation in Science
The OMAI initiative will deliver open multimodal AI models capable of processing and synthesizing diverse scientific data—text, images, and more—enabling researchers to generate insights, visualize findings, and connect emerging discoveries with existing literature. Ai2 will guide the model development, while NVIDIA contributes hardware and software stack to support large-scale training pipelines and inference.
Aligned with U.S. National AI Strategy
OMAI fits squarely within the White House’s strategy to bolster AI innovation via open, transparent, and inclusive infrastructure. The initiative is anticipated to drive collaborative research, transparency in AI, and equitable access to advanced tools across institutions of all sizes.
Economic and Scientific Impact
By democratizing access to advanced AI models, the OMAI initiative is poised to catalyze breakthroughs across multiple scientific domains—ranging from biomedical research and materials discovery to climate and energy sciences. The collaboration between NSF and NVIDIA is expected to yield long-term benefits for U.S. research infrastructure and reinforce the country’s position in the global AI arena.
