A National-Scale Testbed Supporting Artificial Intelligence Research Spanning the Computing Continuum

New artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming how the nation conducts scientific research. However, as scientists quickly adopt new AI techniques, the architecture and design of a performant computational infrastructure to support these new explorations, particularly as NSF has rapidly grown a new community of AI research teams through programs such as the AI institutes, represent fundamental open questions. Developing and evaluating new approaches to AI-enabled scientific workflows, programming and runtime environments, integrating data from diverse sources–in context of a national-scale computing continuum spanning intelligent edge devices to centralized high-performance computing centers–require at-scale test Cyberinfrastructure. This project designs and builds a new national-scale testbed that supports computer scientists developing and exploring novel distributed-AI computing systems. The edge-based pilot testbed links low-power AI-enabled computers distributed across the country with high-resolution environmental sensors and instruments such as cameras, microphones, and weather sensors. The testbed supports scientists exploring design concepts, operational modes, and real-time sensor data workflows, contributing to the understanding of Earth's changing climate and biosphere. The pilot testbed also addresses today’s urgent need for a diverse, AI-trained scientific workforce by enabling students, researchers, and community scientists to ethically engage in multidisciplinary AI research, creating the next generation of scientists needed to responsibly develop AI capabilities in every facet of our economy. By addressing the current lack of a comprehensive, flexible toolset and infrastructure for AI-centric and computationally mediated research, the project provides a crucial research testbed that bridges current computational resources and the demands of advancing AI capabilities. This effort is also supported by National Discovery Cloud for Climate (NDC-C) resources. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.