The Commonwealth Artificial Intelligence Institute is a partnership between several higher education institutions, industries and government agencies of the Commonwealth to coordinate AI resources “across sectors” and “position the Commonwealth as a global leader in AI,” according to an email statement to The Cavalier Daily from Megan A. Barnett, vice provost for pan-University initiatives.
There are four main goals the CAII hopes to achieve — promoting education and workforce activities, research and discovery, innovation and economic development and Virginia as a source of trusted AI expertise.
Barnett explained that the initiative began at the University in the summer of 2024 by first developing a vision of the institute with a group of AI-focused University faculty members before the University invited other research universities in Virginia to join the planning process.
“AI is too big and too pervasive for any one university, company or agency to tackle it alone. We wanted to find a way to bring higher education, industry and government together to cooperate around responsible AI,” Barnett wrote.
University Spokesperson Bethanie Glover added that the University’s role in the CAII is an “important aspect of connecting U.Va.'s expertise with others for the benefit of the Commonwealth and positioning the Commonwealth to be a global leader on AI,” in a statement to The Cavalier Daily.
According to Barnett, the eight original members of the CAII are the University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia State University, Virginia Tech and William & Mary. Since the creation of the CAII, Barnett wrote that the CAII has since added the Virginia Community College System — a system of 23 community colleges across Virginia.
Barnett stated that the CAII is now also beginning to work with the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia — a partnership between 28 private universities and colleges across Virginia — with a goal of including every college and university in Virginia once the institute reaches full-scale operation.
Virginia General Assembly members convened to hear an update on the CAII at a June 3 meeting of the Joint Commission on Technology and Science at the Mason School of Business at William & Mary. The JCOTS is a permanent commission of the General Assembly created in 1997 to “promote the development of technology and science in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” according to its website. Anthony Stefanidis, CAII presidential liaison for strategic initiatives and William & Mary data science professor, gave the presentation.
A meeting handout from the June 3 meeting explains that the CAII will ultimately “position Virginia as a national leader in the responsible and economically transformative deployment of AI,” and pointed to the four goals of the Institute.
“[These] activities will be organized around four foundational operational pillars that together support talent development, scientific advancement, economic growth and responsible governance,” the handout stated.
The handout also provided descriptions of how these goals will be achieved. To promote education and workforce training, the handout stated that the CAII will work to strengthen the “AI talent pipeline” in Virginia by coordinating K-12, higher education and other training programs to match the growing societal demand for AI.
To promote research and discovery, the handout stated that the CAII will connect differing expertises across Virginia universities with industry and government agencies to coordinate research, and also stated that the CAII will connect researchers and entrepreneurs to investment and commercial opportunities.
So Virginia can become a source of trusted AI expertise, the handout stated that the CAII will serve as a “nonpartisan AI thinktank” capable of serving the public sector across local, state and national governments with “research-based guidance, policy analysis, executive education and technical consulting related to AI adoption.”
According to the meeting handout, Virginia is capable of benefitting from AI but does not yet have a way of organizing the AI resources spread across the state. The handout noted that the “urgency of this effort cannot be overstated,” explaining that states forming collaborative AI partnerships are more likely to capitalize on the changing AI landscape than states that have not yet coordinated their resources.
The handout also pointed to several states across the nation that have already created their own AI development partnerships, like the Empire AI consortium of New York and the Connecticut AI Alliance. According to the Empire AI website, Empire AI is a “consortium of public and private research institutions advancing AI research for the public good.” According to its website, the CAIA is a group of 21 academic institutions and six community groups across Connecticut that work together to “[foster] collaboration across academia, industry and government to advance AI innovation in Connecticut.”
Universities across state lines have also partnered together to combine their AI resources, like the Mid-South AI Research Consortium, which the handout stated includes four members from Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi that are working to “unify their region’s fragmented AI capabilities.”
The handout stated that Virginia will risk losing potential employees and other economic growth opportunities to states that offer more coordinated AI initiatives.
“The absence of coordination could also limit Virginia’s ability to attract investment, support startup growth and capitalize on emerging AI-driven industries,” the handout stated. “At a time when recent federal cuts have highlighted Virginia’s dependence on federal spending, expanding the Commonwealth’s non-federal economy has become even more important.”
Throughout 2025, initiatives by the Department of Government Efficiency led to the loss of around 30,000 federal jobs in Virginia, erasing six years of federal job growth.
As for the timeline of the CAII, a meeting handout stated that the institute is currently in an “early planning phase,” and full-scale operations are expected to begin in June 2027.
Barnett wrote that while the CAII is in a planning phase, the institute is working towards building relationships with state agencies and companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Additionally, Barnett stated that the CAII submitted a $3 million grant request in July to the National Science Foundation — with the proposal being led by the University — to help build a statewide AI-hub.
A member of the General Assembly first requested funding to assist with building the CAII during the 2025 legislative session, through a budget amendment of $750,000. The University later received a one-time payment of $500,000 in the 2026 Special Session I to aid the development of the CAII. The 2026 Special Session I began April 23 after the state legislature did not reach an agreement on the 2026-28 biennial state budget at the end of the 2026 regular session. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) eventually signed HB 30, finalizing the budget, June 29.
The budget amendment required the development to be a collaborative process between Virginia universities and public and private stakeholders, as well as take into consideration similar existing research initiatives, like the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and the MonarchSphere AI Incubator to avoid “duplication of effort.”
The budget amendment stated that the CAII must have a plan submitted to the Virginia Innovative Partnership Authority, the chairs of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and the House Appropriations Committee by July 1, 2027.
In a statement to The Cavalier Daily, Karen McGlathery, director of the Environmental Institute at the University, wrote that the CAII is also exploring six additional AI research teams across the Commonwealth — society, business and law, education, environment, health and medicine and national security.
According to McGlathery, one of these focus groups is the AI Research and Environment group and is led by the Environmental Institute at the University. McGlathery wrote that the group began operating at the beginning of this year and includes researchers from the University, William & Mary, Old Dominion University, Virginia Tech and Norfolk State University.
McGlathery wrote that the goal of the focus group is to improve environmental AI research and its uses across the Commonwealth.
“[The focus group] also aims to identify institutional and research strengths to advance applications of AI for environmental challenges, such as predicting extreme weather events, improving energy efficiency and strengthening environmental resilience,” McGlathery wrote.
The focus group will convene for its inaugural meeting Sept. 25 at the University. According to McGlathery, the meeting will focus on energy, the impact of data centers and the environmental changes stemming from AI, among other topics. The University recently moved forward with plans to build a new research data center in Fontaine Research Park, expecting to finish construction by early 2029.
McGlathery stated that the meeting is expected to be a regular convening, though participants will decide future plans for the focus group at the meeting.
Melody Yuan is a staff writer on the news desk. She is a second-year student in the College studying Economics and Statistics from Richmond, Va.
Read More
After Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, students express relief and disappointment
By Jaylynn Perez and Luca Bailey | YesterdayStudents at the University are expressing a range of emotions, with two who spoke to The Cavalier Daily signaling relief at the Court’s decision, and one expressing opposition.
Welcome back, Hoos — here’s what you missed this summer on Grounds
By Grace Little | YesterdayLooking to late August, classes will commence Tuesday, and various University groups will reconvene after adjusted summer schedules.
U.Va. School of Medicine names two new department chairs, explains selection process
By Michael Racz | 5 days agoIn an interview with The Cavalier Daily, Colin Derdeyn, interim dean of the School of Medicine, explained the selection process of the two chairs and the new chairs’ plans for their departments.
