NAIRR Pilot — Start-Up Projects
U.S. National Science Foundation (NAIRR Pilot) · Government AI compute
VariesUp to 2,000 GPU-hours (or equivalent) on one national AI resource for 3 months
Quick 3-month allocations on US national AI systems (e.g. Purdue Anvil AI, TACC Vista, SDSC Expanse, Jetstream-2) for exploratory AI research.
Key terms
- US-based researchers/educators at US institutions; startups and small businesses only if they hold federal grants
- Graduate students need a faculty advisor support letter; institutional email required
- Must start using the resource within 2 weeks of award
- Results must be open/publishable; project details posted publicly; 1-page final report
Eligibility
- Where
- United States
- Stages
- idea, pre-seed, seed, series-a, growth
- Needs VC/accelerator backing
- No
- Needs partner referral code
- No
- Must be incorporated
- No
- AI focus required
- No
- Students / researchers
- Eligible
- Nonprofits
- Eligible
Also required
- Small businesses eligible only with federal grants (e.g. SBIR/STTR)
How to apply
Complete the online 'Start your Submission' form; review takes about 2–3 weeks while capacity remains.
- Benefit
- in-kind
- Equity-free
- Yes
- Decision time
- 2–3 weeks
- Credit validity
- 3 months
- Deadline
- Rolling
- Status
- Open
Verified 2026-10-22 · source