CSIRO has entered into an AI Nations collaboration agreement with NVIDIA to build Australia’s domestic AI capabilities and accelerate the adoption of AI across industry, academia and the public sector.

The two organisations will team up on accelerated computing initiatives spanning a broad range of economic and social opportunities, applying quantum computing and digital twins for use cases across climate action and genomic medicine.

In addition to developing the AI and machine learning capabilities of CSIRO researchers, the collaboration will focus on national AI upskilling initiatives for students, researchers and industry professionals to improve domestic workforce readiness. A working group of domain experts from both organisations has been assembled to identify pathways to impact and opportunities for co-innovation.

CSIRO CIO Brendan Dalton said the agreement is important for researchers using machine learning and AI across CSIRO, in particular the Data61 business unit.

"This is an exciting step for Australia's expanding artificial intelligence capabilities. CSIRO has been using NVIDIA's accelerated computing platform for over a decade, and I envisage that this new collaboration will expand our efforts around AI research, start-ups and industrial ventures, grow a more robust local AI ecosystem and support the launch of our new National AI Centre," Mr Dalton said.

NVIDIA's invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market and has redefined modern computer graphics, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

"AI is transforming every industry, helping nations and enterprises make advancements in science, business, government services and more," said Keith Strier, VP of Worldwide AI Initiatives at NVIDIA.

"Through our collaboration, NVIDIA and CSIRO are enabling researchers, scientists and students in Australia to use the latest technologies to power new discoveries.

“We expect the agreement to bear fruit quickly, as a well-defined shared vision, joint program governance and list of targeted efforts are already in the works.”