IBM Joins Effort to Build $200M AI, Cloud, Quantum Discovery Accelerator at the University of Illinois

(HPCWire) With demands for AI, hybrid cloud and quantum computing expanding daily, IBM is joining an initiative to build a Discovery Accelerator Institute at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana to drive new research and innovations in some of the fastest-growing fields of study.
The collaboration also includes the State of Illinois in what is planned as a $200 million, 10-year initiative to erect a building and facilities for the new institute as well as increase access to technology education and skills development at the school.
The IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute, which will be part of the Grainger College of Engineering at the school, will also focus on other emerging technologies including materials discovery and sustainability.
The exact funding amounts from IBM, the university and the state are not being disclosed.
“We do collaborations with universities on a fairly regular basis, but not [often] at this size,” which is larger than usual, Jeff Welser, the chief operating officer at IBM Research, told EnterpriseAI. Typically, university project collaborations involve a few hundred thousand dollars to $1 million a year, said Welser.