Who will get to use the federal AI cloud?

Rima Seiilova-Olson wasn't sure why she was the only startup founder on a panel full of academics. "I feel a little puzzled," said Seiilova-Olson, co-founder and chief machine-learning scientist at a mental health AI startup Kintsugi, talking to Protocol about her participation in a Feb. 16 federal task force meeting about how she might use a federally funded AI research cloud. The National AI Research Resource, or NAIRR, would be a repository of data and tools for AI research combined with access to the computing power necessary to develop machine learning and other AI systems. But just who will get to use it remains in question. Amid representatives from five colleges and universities, Seiilova-Olson was the lone speaker representing the private sector at the virtual panel discussion addressing the needs of various potential users of the NAIRR.