NSF committed $5.48 billion to awards linked to AI researchers

How much US public research money supported the people who build AI? We link 8,930 National Science Foundation award IDs to 1,299 researchers and estimate $5.48 billion in funds obligated to their projects. Carnegie Mellon University leads the matched institutions at $445.5M, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology at $295.9M.

These are full project amounts committed to institutions, with PI, co-PI and former investigator roles included. The totals cover matched researchers' work across fields and years. They measure one part of public research support; the collection covers people profiled here and does not measure all federal AI spending. Every dollar figure is nominal and unadjusted for inflation.

Key findings

• Computer and Information Science and Engineering accounts for 69% of matched awards; the computing directorate accounts for 60% of matched dollars.
• The median lead-PI award was $162k for starts in 1990–94 and $450k in 2020–24. These are nominal obligations recorded as of 24 October 2026.
• We link 436 award IDs whose titles start with CAREER to 365 investigators. Transfers can give one project more than one award ID.
• The 46 awards of at least $10M account for 19% of matched dollars.

Where the awards came from

Computer and Information Science and Engineering has 6,194 awards out of 8,930. The table also gives nominal dollars by directorate.

Source: NSF award records, matched to cited career records, as of 24 October 2026. Each award ID counts once; amounts are nominal US dollars obligated to date.

Data table

NSF directorate	Awards	Share of awards	Nominal obligations
Computer and Information Science and Engineering	6,194	69%	$3,307,156,016
Engineering	820	9%	$449,435,969
Mathematical and Physical Sciences	577	6%	$489,843,929
STEM Education	382	4%	$512,598,198
Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences	340	4%	$241,671,119
Biological Sciences	220	2%	$236,945,632
Technology, Innovation and Partnerships	142	2%	$71,767,406
Office of the Director	132	1%	$41,336,317
Geosciences	123	1%	$133,615,141

The computing directorate appears as CSE in these award records; NSF calls it Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). We retain NSF's directorate assignment for each award. A researcher's grant history can also include mathematics, physics, biology and education.

Award size across complete periods

Lead-PI award medians are $162,302 for 1990–94 and $449,735.5 for 2020–24. All-award medians are $167,422 and $495,033. Values are unadjusted for inflation.

Source: NSF award records, matched to cited career records, as of 24 October 2026. Each award ID counts once; amounts are nominal US dollars obligated to date.

Data table

Award start years	Lead-PI awards	Lead-PI median	All awards	All-award median
1990–1994	565	$162,302	676	$167,422
1995–1999	631	$210,000	799	$223,011
2000–2004	858	$343,662.5	1,171	$384,383
2005–2009	1,158	$316,140	1,508	$355,495
2010–2014	1,240	$349,994	1,545	$383,143
2015–2019	1,013	$376,737	1,362	$431,965
2020–2024	532	$449,735.5	765	$495,033

The lead-PI series uses 565 awards in 1990–94 and 532 in 2020–24. The wider set includes awards linked through co-PIs and former investigators: its median was $167k and $495k in the same periods. We group total obligations by start year; each value can cover several years of work. Differences can reflect inflation, project mix and award duration. Recent awards can still receive additional funds.

Where the awards were held

Carnegie Mellon University has $445,526,812 obligated. Full award amounts are assigned to the institution named by NSF.

Source: NSF award records, matched to cited career records, as of 24 October 2026. Each award ID counts once; amounts are nominal US dollars obligated to date.

Data table

NSF awardee name	Awards	Nominal obligations
Carnegie Mellon University	643	$445,526,812
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	422	$295,861,996
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	331	$228,253,685
University of California-Los Angeles	228	$196,183,069
University of California-Berkeley	303	$194,911,281
University of Washington	264	$193,309,817
Stanford University	323	$166,225,704
Columbia University	159	$143,085,367
Cornell University	236	$136,960,050
University of California-San Diego	136	$133,636,356
University of Pennsylvania	230	$131,408,591
Georgia Tech Research Corporation	250	$128,063,446
Harvard University	146	$116,922,211
Northeastern University	68	$107,295,849
University of Southern California	238	$106,812,551
California Institute of Technology	59	$103,947,848
New York University	151	$103,658,459
William Marsh Rice University	94	$102,244,886
Michigan State University	104	$98,701,950
University of Massachusetts Amherst	210	$97,353,681
Princeton University	189	$88,054,790
University of Maryland, College Park	208	$87,374,401
Duke University	131	$83,270,411
University of Texas at Austin	186	$82,271,503
Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	160	$75,425,416
Johns Hopkins University	109	$72,226,709
University of California-Irvine	108	$63,183,467
University of Utah	44	$62,977,865
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, THE	46	$59,449,919
University of Wisconsin-Madison	107	$59,006,132
North Carolina State University	38	$57,204,627
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities	106	$54,473,240
University of California-Santa Barbara	72	$51,230,458
Colorado State University	28	$50,738,862
Trustees of Boston University	59	$48,534,891
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	69	$46,191,417
Pennsylvania State Univ University Park	81	$45,509,502
Purdue University	112	$44,616,901
Yale University	103	$44,039,165
University of Pittsburgh	103	$39,565,823
Rutgers University New Brunswick	75	$36,448,597
Brown University	81	$34,595,915
University of Illinois at Chicago	56	$33,701,748
University of Chicago	41	$33,497,610
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	75	$29,683,933
Washington University	50	$27,616,172
Oregon State University	44	$26,106,090
SUNY at Buffalo	61	$25,905,675
University of Rochester	78	$25,384,052
Corporation for National Research Initiatives (NRI)	4	$22,990,906
THE ALLEN INSTITUTE FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE	1	$22,533,644
Arizona State University	56	$22,306,539
Northwestern University	39	$21,876,116
Institute For Advanced Study	22	$21,719,264
University of Virginia Main Campus	45	$21,681,966
University of Florida	52	$20,280,047
SRI International	67	$19,195,622
University of Notre Dame	28	$18,927,269
Institute for Genomic Research	2	$18,415,973
University of Colorado at Boulder	33	$18,354,011
University of California-Riverside	26	$17,970,129
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory	8	$17,736,918
University of New Mexico	26	$16,838,697
University of Texas at Arlington	55	$16,162,635
The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees	36	$13,456,145
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	49	$13,446,632
SUNY at Stony Brook	29	$13,243,416
University of Maryland Baltimore County	32	$13,215,591
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute	2	$13,177,210
University of California-Davis	31	$13,143,922
Indiana University	34	$11,859,273
University of Arizona	17	$11,763,388
University of California-Santa Cruz	25	$11,563,383
Iowa State University	20	$10,582,094
International Computer Science Institute	21	$10,521,067
Washington State University	25	$10,339,700
University of Memphis	16	$10,277,090
University of Nebraska-Lincoln	23	$9,967,496
Tufts University	21	$9,937,003
Texas A&M University	5	$9,018,557
University of Texas at Dallas	31	$8,631,109
Missouri University of Science and Technology	29	$8,546,709
University of Kentucky Research Foundation	15	$8,536,023
Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago	21	$8,469,568
Dartmouth College	28	$8,422,901
Syracuse University	11	$7,045,111
Northwestern University at Chicago	4	$6,995,262
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution	11	$6,844,840
Ohio State University Research Foundation -DO NOT USE	30	$6,384,983
BBN Systems & Technologies Corporation	7	$6,084,203
College of William and Mary	17	$6,083,157
University of South Florida	26	$5,921,437
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	15	$5,718,771
University of Massachusetts Lowell	16	$5,482,337
Brigham Young University	7	$5,382,534
West Virginia University Research Corporation	6	$5,289,024
George Mason University	18	$5,120,174
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs	9	$4,931,447
Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc	7	$4,906,644
Santa Fe Institute	18	$4,754,889
University of Missouri-Columbia	6	$4,677,413
Emory University	11	$4,649,453
University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography	5	$4,637,330
Cornell Univ - State: AWDS MADE PRIOR MAY 2010	4	$4,455,723
Florida State University	19	$4,379,487
Florida International University	9	$4,123,634
University of South Carolina at Columbia	22	$3,982,212
Wright State University	17	$3,923,945
CUNY City College	8	$3,812,628
Louisiana State University	13	$3,780,433
University of Louisville Research Foundation Inc	9	$3,691,184
New Jersey Institute of Technology	7	$3,645,014
Case Western Reserve University	6	$3,643,156
Temple University	11	$3,493,434
University of Kansas Center for Research Inc	5	$3,191,217
Oregon Health & Science University	2	$3,009,862
Vanderbilt University	14	$2,935,530
University of Delaware	13	$2,896,842
Illinois Institute of Technology	14	$2,821,321
Institute for the Study of Learning and Expertise	9	$2,802,481
Portland State University	7	$2,784,107
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies	11	$2,779,275
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency	2	$2,641,944
University of Rhode Island	6	$2,529,309
University of North Carolina at Charlotte	6	$2,478,611
SUNY at Binghamton	6	$2,445,099
Texas A&M University-Kingsville	1	$2,392,470
University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc	6	$2,313,187
University of Vermont & State Agricultural College	6	$2,270,151
SUNY at Albany	6	$2,268,858
Drexel University	9	$2,125,143
University of Massachusetts Lowell Research Foundation	7	$2,002,825
University South Carolina Research Foundation	7	$1,982,982
FETCH TECHNOLOGIES	4	$1,947,754
Baylor University	7	$1,899,306
University of Connecticut	13	$1,836,234
University of Louisiana at Lafayette	3	$1,770,858
Florida Atlantic University	7	$1,720,758
Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University	6	$1,563,582
NATURAL SELECTION, INCORPORATED	6	$1,425,059
Utah State University	7	$1,418,047
Texas Tech University	7	$1,370,833
Squishy Robotics Inc.	2	$1,236,231
University of Hawaii	5	$1,235,879
Stevens Institute of Technology	7	$1,223,866
University of North Texas	7	$1,208,519
San Jose State University Foundation	11	$1,177,728
CUNY Hunter College	12	$1,169,961
The Forsyth Institute	3	$1,148,249
Georgetown University	4	$1,108,047
University of Tulsa	9	$1,100,305
Haskins Laboratories, Inc.	3	$1,075,248
Brandeis University	4	$1,033,932
Ekso Bionics, Inc.	1	$1,024,000
University of Oklahoma Norman Campus	4	$998,869
New Mexico State University	7	$939,421
Middlebury College	4	$935,363
University of Tennessee Knoxville	4	$914,967
Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Inc.	2	$844,136
Wichita State University	2	$842,806
Kestrel Institute	4	$836,179
Lehigh University	3	$745,793
University of Colorado at Denver-Downtown Campus	6	$737,124
University of Illinois at Springfield	6	$693,096
Securics Incorporated	1	$656,692
IONA UNIVERSITY	5	$619,029
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	1	$599,633
Health Fidelity, Inc.	2	$555,687
Polytechnic University of New York	3	$488,365
University of Denver	4	$434,097
George Washington University	1	$400,000
Ohio University	3	$370,327
University of Alabama Tuscaloosa	2	$363,170
University of Cincinnati	3	$351,533
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago	1	$341,817
University of Texas at San Antonio	3	$341,666
University of Arkansas Little Rock	1	$338,252
University of Arkansas	2	$321,852
University of Iowa	4	$311,762
University of Colorado at Denver	2	$300,384
Clarkson University	1	$274,909
University of Nebraska at Omaha	1	$233,368
Bayesian Health LLC	1	$225,000
DeepScale, Inc	1	$225,000
RECONSTRUCT INC	1	$224,996
TRASH INC.	1	$224,734
Williams College	2	$191,061
InferLink Corporation	1	$179,992
University of Texas at El Paso	3	$173,616
IMMERSION CORPORATION	2	$149,685
Northern Illinois University	2	$149,239
Colby College	1	$138,490
University of California - Merced	1	$135,742
University of Oregon Eugene	1	$120,993
Texas A&M Research Foundation	1	$105,000
ANTHROTRONIX, INC.	1	$100,000
Hanson Robotics, Inc.	1	$100,000
TEXTWISE LLC	1	$99,999
INTERACTIVE DRAMA INC.	1	$99,972
Applied Media Analysis, Inc.	1	$99,953
Kestrel Technology LLC	1	$99,803
AI Access Foundation	1	$99,750
Computing Research Association	1	$94,884
Catholic University of America	2	$93,430
Wellesley College	2	$85,011
Wayne State University	2	$56,164
Kansas State University	2	$51,325
Thinking Machines Corporation	1	$47,200
Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated	1	$46,200
Machine Vision International	1	$40,000
Emerson College	1	$30,259
Machine Intelligence Corporation	1	$25,000
Medical University of South Carolina	1	$25,000
Auburn University	1	$23,000
University of South Alabama	1	$21,300
AT&T	1	$15,250
University of Kansas Main Campus	1	$15,000
Bell Communications Research	1	$5,000

We group the dollars by the awardee name reported by NSF. The matched awards cover part of each institution's research. A co-investigator's match assigns the full award to its awardee institution. Funds shared across a project are not divided among people or partner institutions.

Large awards account for a substantial share: 46 award IDs of at least $10M total $1.02 billion, or 19% of matched obligations. The largest award is A Center for Brains, Minds and Machines: the Science and the Technology of Intelligence ($48.1M).

Research funding before company and lab founding

CAREER titles identify 436 distinct award IDs linked to 365 people. We include titles that begin with CAREER followed by a colon or dash, ignoring case. This counts award records and associated investigators. NSF can issue a new award number when a grant moves to another institution.

For 115 people with a dated company or lab founding in our career records, the first matched lead-PI award started in an earlier calendar year. The examples below show that sequence. The table shows the recorded sequence. Assessing a grant's role in a later company would need separate evidence.

The match uses researcher names, institutions, career dates and NSF investigator identifiers or email evidence. We use accepted matches in the collection; ambiguous matches are excluded. A person can appear on an award in more than one role. We combine all person and role rows with the same award ID before summing dollars. The award-ID count can include transfers of the same project. The source snapshot is dated 24 October 2026.