Empire AI Projects at UB Showcase Our Commitment to Realizing AI for Good
University at Buffalo Consortium member
Launched in April 2024 by Governor Kathy Hochul, Empire AI is a bold partnership of New York’s leading public and private universities coming together to establish a state-of-the-art artificial intelligence computing center, housed at SUNY’s University at Buffalo. Empire AI is already facilitating statewide innovation, research, and development of AI technologies.
Explore Empire AI Projects at UB
AI-Powered Speech Therapy
An Interactive Multimodal Language Model for Children
UB researchers will utilize Empire AI to build an agentic, multimodal large language model to perform real-time, interactive speech-language therapies for children with speech and language challenges. This model will be used by the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education and is designed to plan, deliver, and adapt interventions in real-time based on the child’s responses and scene dynamics.
AI-Powered Multimodal Screening Tool Enhances Identification of Children's Learning Needs
Using speech, text, and visual cues to support personalized education and developmental assessment
This project, part of the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, is developing an AI-powered screening tool that can interpret multiple types of information—such as speech, text, and visual cues—to support identification of children’s learning and developmental needs. By training a large language model on a rich, multimodal dataset, the system is designed to recognize patterns in communication and behavior that traditional assessments may not easily detect. The goal is to support educators and specialists in tailoring interventions and strategies for each child, with the potential to inform approaches to assessment and personalized learning.
Empire AI
UB researchers are tapping the incredible power of Empire AI.
The $500 million statewide consortium — which Gov. Kathy Hochul announced last year, including its supercomputing center located at UB, a SUNY flagship with decades of leadership in AI and data science — aims to harness AI for the betterment of society and drive innovation in New York State.
Empire AI News Highlights
PRESS RELEASE: Empire AI & University at Buffalo Partnering to Decarbonize North Campus
03/05/26
"Empire AI was designed from the start to prove that world-class computing power and climate leadership can go hand in hand,” said Kiran Keshav as Director of Research Computing for Empire AI. “By turning the heat from advanced AI research into a clean energy resource for the campus, we are using the same electrons twice – once to drive scientific discovery, and again to keep buildings warm. It is a powerful example of how shared infrastructure can deliver both scientific and environmental benefits for New York State."
WIVB4 | Buffalo Brief: Empire AI/Thomas Grant, PhD.
03/05/26
UB researcher Thomas Grant featured for creating AI tools to speed up drug development.
