Alumni gift launches new AI institute

Zaib And Amir Husain
Photo by: Sloan Breeden

This fall, the National Science Foundation selected The University of Texas at Austin — a world leader in artificial intelligence research — to lead a new, $20 million national institute for machine learning.

The NSF AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning is another important step in the university’s contributions to AI and tech innovation, and will be housed in a new, permanent base for campus-wide artificial intelligence research: the Machine Learning Laboratory.

Austin-based tech entrepreneurs and UT Austin alumni Zaib and Amir Husain, BBA ’99 and B.S. ’98, have given $5 million to launch the Machine Learning Laboratory, which will provide a hub for collaboration among faculty, researchers, and students from across UT. Their gift will provide permanent support for the students, faculty and groundbreaking work centered there.

“UT’s strengths in computer science, engineering, public policy, business, and law can help drive applications of AI,” Amir Husain said. “And Austin’s booming tech scene is destined to be a major driver for the local and national economy for decades to come.”