UB set to be home for Empire AI Research Center

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - With a budget deal finally being reached in New York, UB is now set to be the home for Empire AI's state-of-the-art AI computing center.

Empire AI, a $400 million consortium, aims to put the state at the top for AI research and development.

In addition to UB and fellow SUNY university centers – the University at Albany, Binghamton University, and Stony Brook University – the new consortium is comprised of the City University of New York, Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Flatiron Institute, as well as vital philanthropic backers.

The new research center will be built on UB's north campus. However, the exact location has not been decided yet.

Founding Director of UB's Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors, Dr. Venu Govindaraju explained that UB has been researching and developing artificial intelligence (AI) long before Empire AI was a concept.

"The reason we believe that University of Buffalo has been chosen is because of its rich legacy of artificial intelligence of over four decades. I mean, we were doing artificial intelligence before it was so cool. If you have been following our projects, you'll know that we actually came up with the postal automation handwriting recognition system in the 90's, and this was when AI was not considered this cool. We have been doing AI, for social good, for a long time."

Govindaraju also shared that he believes the research center is not only a highly valuable tool, but a necessity for the greater good.

"The whole idea of doing such a project, I think, came about from the realization by our leaders. [They] realized that artificial intelligence is truly evolving right in front of our eyes", Govindaraju said in an interview. "It's changing the way we think, we do activities, and holds so much potential for the future that we cannot just leave it in the hands of the big tech giants who have been the drivers in the last few years."