Chancellor King Highlights SUNY’s Artificial Intelligence Leadership During SUNY AI Symposium

April 14, 2026

Symposium Highlights AI Leaders, SUNY Researchers, Educators, and Industry Partners Who are Advancing Discovery, Driving Innovation, and Generating Economic Growth

Stony Brook, NY — State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. today highlighted SUNY's leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) during the SUNY AI Symposium. The event, hosted by the State University of New York at Stony Brook, highlighted AI leaders, SUNY researchers, educators, and industry partners who are advancing discovery, driving AI innovation, and generating economic growth in New York State.

"Through the work of our dedicated researchers, educators, and leaders in technology, SUNY, and New York State, are at the forefront of harnessing AI for the public good," said SUNY Chancellor King. "It is as important as ever for experts and leaders in the field to have the opportunity to come together to explore how AI can be used responsibly to move us forward. I applaud all of our researchers, faculty, and AI leaders for their continued dedication to putting SUNY at the cutting-edge of AI discovery and innovation."

The SUNY Board of Trustees said, "The SUNY AI Symposium serves as an excellent opportunity for AI experts, educators and students to come together to determine how the technology can be developed and used to improve the lives of all New Yorkers. We thank Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature for their steadfast support and investment into furthering SUNY's leadership in AI."

During the SUNY AI Symposium, an interdisciplinary group of experts from New York State and beyond convened to explore the future of AI, its transformative potential, and responsible AI use that fuels economic growth to benefit communities worldwide. The symposium also showcased cutting-edge research, and included poster presentations from SUNY system administration officials, and SUNY campuses including:

State University of New York at Albany
State University of New York at Binghamton
SUNY Brockport
State University of New York at Buffalo
Farmingdale State College
State University of New York at Stony Brook
SUNY System Administration Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development
SUNY Upstate Medical University

SUNY is proud of our extensive efforts to expand the responsible use of AI to benefit students, faculty, and staff. These include:

SUNY's FACT2 Advisory Council established the Optimizing AI for Teaching and Learning Task Group to share findings related to best practices for AI usage, teaching opportunities connected to AI usage, how students might use AI, and related considerations.
Naming the inaugural SUNY AI for the Public Good Fellows, made up of 20 SUNY faculty and staff across disciplines ranging from health sciences to sustainable resources management. The Fellows serve as a resource to colleagues working to update courses and learning activities to incorporate AI literacy, including the effective and ethical use of AI and teaching students to critically evaluate AI-generated content.
Updating SUNY's General Education Framework core competency in information literacy in order to reflect the rise of emerging technologies and AI. As a result of this change, all students will develop skills to evaluate information from a variety of sources, with an awareness of authority, validity, bias, and origin, and demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination.
Hosting Governor Hochul's Empire AI consortium, which provides supercomputer access to researchers working to advance the public good. Empire AI is housed at the State University of New York at Buffalo and includes the State University of New York at Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook, along with the state's other leading research institutions.
Establishing Empire AI campus partnerships between SUNY's University Centers, university colleges, technology colleges, and community colleges to advance AI research and education for the public good. The partnerships leverage Empire AI to increase research experiences, professional development, and other opportunities for SUNY students and faculty.
Launching the nation's first independent AI research center at a public university. The Center for AI Responsibility and Research at the State University of New York at Binghamton will be the nation's premier academic hub for creating the science and engineering of responsible, repeatable, and transparent artificial intelligence.
Launching Departments and Centers of AI & Societyacross eight SUNY institutions – which foster collaboration across disciplines to provide inclusive AI research, address ethical concerns in the use of AI, and advance responsible data use.

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, said, "New York's public universities should be at the forefront of the technologies shaping our economy and our classrooms. SUNY is doing exactly that. I commend Chancellor King and the entire SUNY community for making this a priority. The investments we make in AI research and education today will drive innovation and opportunity across New York State for generations to come."

State Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, said, "As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, I am incredibly proud to see SUNY leading the national conversation on the future of Artificial Intelligence. Through the Empire AI consortium and the pioneering research happening at our University Centers, we are ensuring that New York remains the epicenter of innovation. By embedding AI literacy into our General Education Framework, we are not just teaching technology; we are preparing our students to be the ethical leaders and architects of tomorrow's workforce."

State Assemblymember Steve Otis, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Science and Technology said, "Our SUNY system has been a leader in artificial intelligence research and innovation for years, well before AI became a focal point of our economic and academic future. The AI Symposium was a convening of the SUNY team to take measure of where our campuses have provided leadership and how AI will continue to evolve. The importance of bringing together our experts to share and build upon SUNY's success is vital to continued leadership here in New York."

The Symposium also builds on SUNY's commitment to highlighting the excellent research taking place across SUNY campuses, and to achieving Governor Hochul's goal of doubling research and innovation throughout the SUNY system. SUNY has undertaken major actions to advance research efforts throughout the system, including:

In March, SUNY hosted the SUNY Research Expo to highlight faculty and student research excellence throughout the SUNY System.
In February, SUNY announced the launch of the SUNY Research Connect Portal to showcase the research profiles of nearly 7,000 SUNY researchers from 26 campuses.
In January, Governor Hochul announced that the New York Center for AI Responsibility and Research, the first-ever independent AI research center at any public university in the United States, would be established at the State University of New York at Binghamton.
In November 2025, Governor Hochul announced an investment to construct a new biofabrication research and imaging facility on the State University of New York at Buffalo campus that will help discover new medicines and cures to save lives.
Also in November 2025, Governor Hochul announced the major expansion of the State University of New York at Albany's RNA Institute to advance world-class research, training, and workforce development.
In October 2025, Governor Hochul announced the launch of the SUNY Brain Institute, a multi-campus initiative focused on expanding SUNY's groundbreaking neuroscience research.
In September 2025, Governor Hochul established the Quantum Research and Innovation Hub at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, further catapulting New York's national leadership in groundbreaking research that saves lives, grows the economy, and improves national security.
In July 2025 SUNY launched the SUNY Research Leadership Academy to advance inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) fields.
In April 2025, Governor Hochul announced that eight SUNY campuses would receive funding to develop departments, centers, and institutes of AI and Society to advance the use of AI for the public good and to foster collaboration across disciplines to promote inclusive AI research and advance responsible data use.

About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.

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Chancellor King Highlights SUNY’s Artificial Intelligence Leadership During SUNY AI Symposium

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