Racks of servers in a data center. View is looking down a long aisle with racks of servers on each side.

UA to collaborate with southern universities on AI initiative

The University of Alabama is a founding partner in the Southeast Region Super-Intelligence Computing Consortium, bringing together 15 universities across 10 states to accelerate research and innovation through collaboration and shared resources.

Artificial intelligence, or super intelligence, is already transforming university research in the United States and around the world. To harness AI’s full potential to advance scientific knowledge, researchers need access to advanced high-performance computing infrastructure.

The founding universities have already invested in AI capabilities. By joining forces, the institutions will expand access to industry-scaled AI infrastructure and position member states to play an outsized role in advancing U.S. leadership in science and technology.

The consortium will share AI computing resources across a public-private partnership. In turn, this collaboration will leverage regional partnerships to attract federal, state, philanthropic and industry funding. Ultimately, the consortium aims to develop and operate one or more leadership-class AI computing systems in the Southeast.

As Alabama’s future-ready flagship, UA will work with consortium partners to advance the scientific frontier, fuel vibrant regional innovation clusters and create a more secure, prosperous and innovation-focused future for the citizens of the Southeast.

In addition to UA, the founding universities are the University of Arkansas, Auburn University, the University of Kentucky, Louisiana State University, the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Tennessee, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Vanderbilt University.