Google Makes $250,000 Gift to NU Foundation for Advancement of AI

The University of Nebraska Foundation will receive a $250,000 gift from Google to advance artificial intelligence research and education across the university system. Google made the announcement during an event on Monday on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s (UNL) Nebraska Innovation Campus.

The gift, one of several announced during the event to support Nebraska educational entities, will empower faculty and students to engage with cutting-edge AI technologies, positioning the university as a hub for innovation in this transformative field. During the event, Google also announced $930 million in infrastructure investments in Nebraska that will support the growth of its data center campuses in Lincoln, Papillion and Omaha, helping meet growing demand for Google Cloud, AI innovations and other digital products and services.

“The University of Nebraska is proud to celebrate with Google as they make a transformative investment in our state and in our future,” said University of Nebraska President Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. “Their generous gift to the university underscores our shared commitment to harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to ensure we remain at the forefront of research, teaching, and public engagement.”

The gift comes at a time when University of Nebraska (NU) System is doubling down on harnessing the power of AI. Earlier this year, the university announced a new undergraduate degree program in generative AI. The program is a collaboration between the UNL and the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). In addition, all four NU campuses are actively building AI-related programs and are using the new technology to drive teaching and innovation. A pan-university AI task force comprised of faculty and staff across a wide array of disciplines — including information technology, medicine, agriculture, engineering, library sciences and more — is working to understand opportunities for collaboration across campuses and to identify areas of shared strength.

“The University of Nebraska’s work in AI, including the work that will be possible because of this investment, is critical to our vision for the future,” said Gold. “As we strive to be an exceptional university system, we must also strive to be a trailblazer in understanding, using and advancing new technologies including AI.”