Governor Kathy Hochul has announced Empire AI campus partnerships between SUNY’s university centers, university colleges, technology colleges, and community colleges to advance artificial intelligence (AI) research and education for the public good. The partnerships will leverage the Empire AI supercomputer, housed at the State University of New York at Buffalo, to increase access to AI for research and professional development for SUNY students and faculty.
“Through Empire AI, New York is ensuring the power of AI is harnessed responsibly,” Governor Hochul said. “By bringing together SUNY institutions through these campus partnerships, we are furthering the use of AI for the public good and shaping a brighter future for all New Yorkers.”
SUNY’s four university centers – the State University of New York at Albany, State University of New York at Binghamton, State University of New York at Buffalo, and State University of New York at Stony Brook – will partner with several of SUNY’s university colleges, technology colleges, and community colleges to provide research experiences, professional development, microcredential courses, and other opportunities for students and faculty to effectively and ethically use AI.
The State University of New York at Albany is partnering with SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech, and Hudson Valley Community College to increase institutional AI capacity across partner institutions by providing professional development for faculty and increasing experiential learning and research opportunities for faculty and students. Programs will include co-developing AI-infused microcredentials, courses, and material to enrich criteria and student experiences, as well as supporting interdisciplinary teams to collaborate on real-world challenges.
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said, “Governor Hochul’s continued leadership has placed SUNY and New York State at the forefront of harnessing AI for the public good. SUNY is proud to leverage the largest statewide comprehensive system of public higher education in the country to ensure that more students are able to drive research and move innovation forward. We are grateful to Governor Hochul for her leadership and investment to advance AI in New York State.”
The SUNY Board of Trustees said, “Thanks to the support of Governor Hochul and the State Legislature, SUNY’s students and faculty will have more access to cutting-edge AI technology. We thank Governor Hochul for her continued efforts to further New York State’s, and SUNY’s leadership in AI for the Public Good.”
Dr. Marion Terenzio, President of SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech, said, “We recognize that artificial intelligence will transform the future of societies and the workforces that power them in profound ways. This partnership allows our respective campuses to more efficiently share research and insights as we learn to use this emerging technology responsibly. Learning to approach AI with ethical frameworks and critical thinking is as important as learning how this technology will apply to a student’s chosen career field. We’re grateful to Governor Hochul and SUNY for the foresight to build AI literacy through this collaboration.”
Additional projects and partnerships include:
- The State University of New York at Binghamton is partnering with SUNY Cortland, SUNY Delhi, SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Oneonta, Broome Community College, and Tompkins Cortland Community College to launch the Advancing AI for the Public Good initiative that will include an online, free of charge AI Prep for Careers non-credit microcredential to introduce students to foundational AI principles, workforce applications, and ethical considerations.
- The State University of New York at Buffalo is partnering with nine campuses – Alfred State College, Genesee Community College, Monroe Community College, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Niagara, Jamestown Community College, and SUNY Oswego – across Central and Western New York to launch AI in Action: Transforming Higher Education through AI. Twenty-five fellows will be selected from partner campuses to participate in workshops, which will focus on curricular development and include important overviews related to ethics, compliance, and accessibility.
- The State University of New York at Stony Brook is partnering with Farmingdale State College and Suffolk County Community College and launching AI Innovation and Diffusion, an 8-week research experience program for undergraduates that will recruit 40 students, 20 from each participating campus, from across all disciplines to receive a $5,000 stipend and spend eight weeks at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, receiving mentorship from doctoral students or postdoctoral scholars.
Empire AI is the Governor’s nation-leading initiative to advance AI research for the public good, led by an independent consortium of members.
Empire AI is backed by more than $500 million in public and private funding, and is made up of 10 member universities and research institutions. In May 2025, Governor Hochul secured funding to expand access for SUNY researchers at the State University of New York at Albany, State University of New York at Binghamton, State University of New York at Buffalo, and State University of New York at Stony Brook, and support the addition of new members including the University of Rochester, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. They joined the seven founding members of Empire AI: SUNY, CUNY, Columbia University, Cornell University, NYU, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Flatiron Institute.
In her 2026 State of the State agenda, Governor Hochul proposed the launch of Empire AI Beta, which will accelerate Empire AI’s performance to 11 times its former scale, making it the world’s most advanced academic supercomputer. Governor Hochul also announced a record-breaking gift to the State University of New York at Binghamton to create the first independent university AI research center in the United States, the Center for AI Responsibility and Research at Binghamton University. The $30 million philanthropic gift, the largest academic gift in the university’s history, is coupled with a $25 million research capital investment by SUNY.
