Latest stories, updates, and announcements that highlight the people, research, and progress of AI throughout Cornell.

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AI Headlines from Around the University

Greg Morrisett to co-lead new NYS AI safety research center

The center is a new statewide initiative launched by Gov. Kathy Hochul to advance artificial intelligence science and safety.

Project to rebuild trust in AI era lands Laude’s $10M ‘moonshot’ award

A $10 million “moonshot” grant from Laude Institute will help Cornell researchers realize the potential of artificial intelligence, while giving online communities control over AI’s role.

New initiative will explore AI’s role in society, humanities

With AI transforming how societies function, a new program in the College of Arts and Sciences aims to meet the urgent need to understand AI’s implications for culture, governance, ethics, communication, creativity, labor and social organization.

New CoPAIR program connects Cornell researchers with AI tools, training and community

The new Communities of Practice for AI-enabled Research (CoPAIR) program gives researchers access to emerging AI tools, hands-on training and collaborative communities where they can share best practices, develop disciplinary norms for appropriate AI use and non-use, and evaluate new tools for research. 

‘A seat at the table’: Cornell expands access to multiple AI tools for faculty, staff, students

Most faculty, staff and students will have free access to a range of AI platforms – an effort to level the playing field, spur exploration and reduce the costs and vulnerabilities of individual consumer licenses.

Ancient cuneiform writing script on the wall by Shutterstock contributor Dan Gabriel Atanasie

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AI models makes precise copies of cuneiform characters

March 4, 2025

Deciphering some people’s writing can be a major challenge – especially when that writing is cuneiform characters imprinted into 3,000-year-old tablets. Now, Middle East scholars can use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and copy over cuneiform characters from photos of tablets, letting them read complicated scripts with ease.

A color photo of John Bicket

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Samsara co-founder named Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year

March 3, 2025

Entrepreneurship at Cornell has announced that John Bicket ’02, chief technology officer and co-founder of tech firm Samsara, has been named Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year 2025. Samsara offers an AI-powered platform to help physical operations organizations improve their safety, efficiency and sustainability by using data from sensors and connected devices.

Heejong Kim/Provided Heatmaps highlight the areas LILAC focuses on when making predictions. The top section illustrates LILAC’s prediction of changes in the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes, while the bottom section accounts for age and sex as additional factors.

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AI system can analyze serial medical images

February 28, 2025

A new AI-based system for analyzing images taken over time can accurately detect changes and predict outcomes, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell’s Ithaca campus and Cornell Tech. The system’s sensitivity and flexibility could make it useful across a wide range of medical and scientific applications.

Empire AI logo

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UR, RIT join artificial intelligence consortium

February 25, 2025

The University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology have joined the Empire AI consortium. The founding members of Empire AI include Cornell University, SUNY, CUNY, Columbia University, New York University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Flatiron Institute.

A color photo of a woman smiling for a photo

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How can we use AI to improve animal welfare? A Q&A with Jennifer Sun

February 21, 2025

Through her research, Jennifer Sun wants to help human experts and AI models collaborate to unearth new insights from ever-growing stockpiles of data in diverse fields.

A colorful spiral from an adobe stock image

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Transdisciplinary project aims to prevent the next pandemic

February 10, 2025

Most pandemics in the past century were sparked by a pathogen jumping from animals to humans. This moment of zoonotic spillover is the focus of a multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Raina Plowright, the Rudolf J. and Katharine L. Steffen Professor in the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Public and Ecosystem Health.

Provided Members of the Harvell Lab examine the health of eelgrass at low tide.

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Marine herbivores chomp eelgrass, making it susceptible to wasting

February 5, 2025

In two new papers, Cornell plant-herbivore experts and researchers from the Cornell Institute for Computational Sustainability joined forces to show the significant impacts of herbivores like sea snails on the spread of seagrass wasting disease. Grazing by small herbivores was associated with a 29% increase in the prevalence of disease, which contributes to huge losses in meadow areas from San Diego to Alaska.

A color photo of a man giving a presentation

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New Cornell Projects Leap Forward with Generative AI Tools

January 30, 2025

Cornell’s AI Initiative supports university faculty, staff, and students as they explore models to optimize the use of generative AI for practical purposes. Eight local teams stunned a hybrid audience with presentations proving generative AI applications could simplify and solve problems that previously required intense manual effort. Each project team was led by one or two faculty or staff members and supported by students from the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science (Cornell Bowers CIS).

A color photo of a man giving a presentation. by Luke Stewart - Cornell Bowers

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AI Innovation Lab Demo Day Features University Projects

January 30, 2025

After brief opening remarks by Chief Global Information Officer (CIO) Curt Cole and by CIO for Cornell’s Ithaca campus and Cornell Tech Ben Maddox, eight projects from the Fall 2025 cohort of the university’s AI Innovation Lab were presented to in-person and Zoom audience members. Among the participants gathered in Bill and Melinda Gates Hall were three co-chairs of the Generative AI Plenary Council at Cornell: Vice Provost for Academic Innovation Steve Jackson, Vice President for Research and Innovation Krystyn Van Vliet, and Provost Kavita Bala.