Microsoft brings Discovery AI to the NJ AI Hub, opening new lanes for faster science
Microsoft will introduce its new Microsoft Discovery platform to the New Jersey Artificial Intelligence Hub (NJ AI Hub), making New Jersey one of only two initial sites worldwide to access the technology. In partnership with Princeton University, the Hub will sit alongside TitletownTech in Wisconsin through a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Discovery combines Agentic AI with high-performance cloud computing to help research teams analyze large datasets, simulate experiments, and iterate on hypotheses far faster than traditional workflows. The goal: reduce the time from insight to validated result.
What this means for researchers
- Apply AI agents to automate parts of the research cycle, from data wrangling to experiment design.
- Run scalable simulations and model sweeps on-demand, backed by high-performance compute.
- Coordinate multi-expert teams where AI agents and human specialists collaborate in an iterative loop.
"Part of the mission of the New Jersey AI Hub is to bring the power of artificial intelligence to the people of New Jersey, for the benefit of the region and its economy," said Liat Krawczyk, executive director of the NJ AI Hub. "We have here a real opportunity for researchers in academia and industry to have the kind of breakthroughs we've all been waiting for with AI."
"We're excited for our scholars to use the Microsoft Discovery platform to accelerate their cutting-edge scientific work and be early leaders in this new mode of research," said Jennifer Rexford, Princeton's provost and the Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor in Engineering, noting that researchers from colleges and universities across the state will be able to engage with the platform and other Hub offerings.
Early access and focus areas
Over the coming months, the NJ AI Hub and Microsoft will shape a strategic plan to engage early adopters working on high-impact challenges. This premium period will prioritize connections across New Jersey's university research and lab network-especially along the Route 1 corridor-while drawing on talent across the state.
"New Jersey's life sciences landscape is world-class," said Jason Zander, Executive Vice President at Microsoft. "In bringing Microsoft Discovery to this partnership with the NJ AI Hub, we can accelerate breakthroughs where they matter most. By connecting industry and academic expertise across pharma, biotech, and materials science, we're poised to turn high-impact challenges into solutions faster and at scale."
Ecosystem and infrastructure
The Hub's founding members-Princeton University, Microsoft, CoreWeave, and the State of New Jersey-are aligning resources to expand access to AI compute for academia, government, startups, and industry. Microsoft's TechSpark program is already active in the state, supporting AI literacy, workforce development, and inclusive innovation.
"By making bold investments in artificial intelligence, Governor Murphy has positioned New Jersey at the forefront of this transformative field," said NJEDA Chief Economic Transformation Officer Kathleen Coviello. "We appreciate Microsoft's partnership in our shared mission to bolster the AI industry and for bringing its new platform to the NJ AI Hub, which will help accelerate research and fuel innovation."
The Hub includes a 6,500-square-foot co-working space in West Windsor that will host a future accelerator, startups, education and workforce programs, and regular events-including workshops and panel discussions on AI ethics.
"At CoreWeave we see firsthand from our customers how AI can innovate, develop, and shape the very foundation of our world and enable awe-inspiring scientific discoveries," said Corey Sanders, Senior Vice President of Product at CoreWeave. "We are thrilled that Microsoft is bringing its Discovery platform to the NJ AI Hub to accelerate these cutting-edge advancements in science, right here in our home state of New Jersey."
Practical next steps for research teams
- Identify candidate projects where accelerated simulation, multi-modal data analysis, or autonomous experiment loops could compress timelines.
- Audit data pipelines and governance: define sources, formats, access policies, and compliance needs ahead of onboarding to shared AI infrastructure.
- Form cross-functional squads (PI, domain scientists, data engineers, safety/ethics lead) to align problem statements and evaluation metrics.
- Outline reproducibility and validation plans, including baseline benchmarks and roll-back criteria for AI-driven suggestions.
Why this matters for New Jersey
New Jersey is aligning government, industry, and academia to move faster on meaningful science. "How do you meet every company where they are in their life cycle, whether they are still in the ideation and R&D stage, or commercializing and scaling up, or working on market penetration? We want to help any company, regardless of where they are, have an entry point and advancement avenue for their AI journey," said Krawczyk.
Learn more
- Microsoft TechSpark
- New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)
- Skills and courses for AI-heavy research roles
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