NY artificial intelligence initiative kicks off with a $7 million supercomputer from LI philanthropists

A state initiative to use artificial intelligence in addressing climate change, cybersecurity, hunger and other societal challenges began in Buffalo on Friday after a supercomputer was donated by a charitable foundation with ties to Long Island, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.

The Empire AI Consortium brings together researchers from public and private universities across New York — including Stony Brook University and Columbia University — to find solutions for big problems. The initiative, with more than $400 million in government and private-sector funding, will be based at the University at Buffalo, the governor said.

Empire AI is operating just six months after being introduced by Hochul in her 2024-25 proposed budget because of $7 million in computer equipment from the Simons Foundation in Manhattan. The foundation was started by the late James Harris Simons, founder of the Renaissance Technologies hedge fund in East Setauket, and his wife, Marilyn.

James Simons died in May at age 86. He led the mathematics department at Stony Brook University before starting Renaissance, which made him a billionaire. The hedge fund pioneered the use of math and then AI to buy and sell stocks.

In a Friday ceremony in Buffalo, Hochul lauded the Simons for the hundreds of millions of dollars given to Stony Brook University and the couple’s early support for Empire AI.

"Your willingness to make [Empire AI] happen way in advance of when we anticipated it would be occurring at the University at Buffalo Main Campus — this is something I will never take for granted," Hochul said in introducing foundation chairwoman Marilyn Simons to the audience.

David Spergel, foundation president, said it’s supporting the state initiative because it brings together researchers and students "to be the innovators that create the next great ideas in science and technology."

More than 100 projects have been proposed by researchers so far, state officials told Newsday.

The initial leaders of Empire AI also were announced Friday, with billionaire Tom Secunda, one of the founders of Bloomberg L.P., being named chairman of the board of directors.

At the ceremony, Hochul said her conversation a year ago with Secunda, who was raised in Bethpage, gave birth to Empire AI.

"He is the person who exactly one year ago planted this idea. ... He laid out the vision for this," she said. "His engagement in this has been transformative. It brought the people together, who otherwise would not have coalesced around an idea like this."

Secunda said Empire AI provides supercomputers and other tools, "usually reserved for only the largest technology companies, to our research institutions and their teams." That makes the next scientific breakthrough "that much closer," he said.

Robert Harrison, a Stony Brook professor, was appointed interim Empire AI director. He is the founding director of Stony Brook’s Institute for Advanced Computational Science, which began in 2012 with a donation from the Simons.

Harrison hopes "New York State will take the national lead on AI-enabled scientific discovery and engineering design," he said.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.