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One-U Responsible AI Initiative Celebrates Three Years and the Launch of Redtail, A Statewide AI Resource Powering Utah’s Tech Future

October 13, 2026

Since its 2023 launch, the One-U Responsible Artificial Intelligence Initiative (One-U RAI) has spurred ethical AI use and development across the University of Utah and the state—through supporting over 60 researchers and students using AI to solve real-world problems, hosting and co-sponsoring dozens of events and conversations on campus and in the greater community, and investing in cyberinfrastructure as a public good to ensure Utah can lead in pro-human AI.

As the initiative enters its fourth year, these efforts will be fortified by Redtail, a new world-class AI factory supercomputer for all of Utah.

Above: A glimpse of the Redtail machine and the lab of Justin Bosch, a University of Utah genetics faculty member who will run one of the first projects on the system.

On Oct. 6, more than 250 people gathered at One-U RAI’s third annual symposium, where university, state, and industry leaders spoke about the initiative’s progress and the launch of Redtail as part of its mission to expand AI-ready cyberinfrastructure.

In his opening remarks, Manish Parashar—chief AI officer for the U and executive director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute, which leads the One-U RAI—highlighted Redtail and the initiative’s many other accomplishments over the past three years. Forming partnerships and working together, he emphasized, has been key to One-U RAI’s impact.

Redtail came together quickly, just 18 months after initial conversations, thanks to a nationally unique public-private partnership, Parashar said. The AI factory is supported by the state and the U, with philanthropic funding from the Huntsman Family Foundation and Brynn Ballard and Peter Huntsman, and technology from HPE and NVIDIA.

“It started with recognizing that infrastructure is so critical to AI and to ensuring our leadership in AI,” Parashar said.

That combination of infrastructure and statewide support, NVIDIA founder and fellow Chris Malachowsky said at the symposium, sets Utah apart. “I hold up Utah as an example,” he said. “You're out in the lead, and run, don't walk.”

Redtail will be managed by the U’s Center for High Performance Computing, part of the SCI Institute. The AI factory will serve all of Utah, starting with higher education and later reaching government, K–12 public schools, and industry.

Redtail’s state-of-the-art capabilities position Utah as a national frontrunner in AI infrastructure—though leaders who spoke at the symposium emphasized that Redtail is still just a tool, and it’s up to Utahns to decide what happens next.

Redtail’s Impact and Utah’s Leadership in Pro-Human AI

Malachowsky, an early champion of Redtail and similar efforts across the country, emphasized that building up an AI ecosystem—not just the machine, but its surrounding enablement and outreach efforts—is a herculean effort.

“This needs to be like breathing for you. And when I came here, I found that,” Malachowsky said. But Redtail is just the catalyst, Malachowsky added, citing his experience supporting the HiPerGator AI system at the University of Florida, his alma mater. Since HiPerGator’s 2021 launch, the school has seen broad impacts, including attracting AI researchers, graduating AI literate students, and sparking multidisciplinary projects.

“The real benefit is what the folks in this room and the folks around the state do with it. Florida had the same type of attitude. They got an inkling of a potential, and they ran with it,” Malachowsky said. “That's the entrepreneurial spirit. That's what got me here. And I think that's what's going to take Utah and the rest of the country forward.”

Thierry Pienaar, an HPE fellow and vice president, explained that Redtail is uniquely built to support present and future needs, from today’s AI workloads to quantum computing. The technology, Malachowsky echoed, is on the leading edge of any country, state, or school.

That capability is foundational to the state’s Pro-Human AI Initiative, according to Utah Department of Commerce Commissioner Margaret Wooley Busse. Redtail will help Utahns harness AI to ensure it is human enhancing: it will be a tool for upskilling and retraining the workforce, attracting and retaining businesses, and solving local and global problems, from protecting the Great Salt Lake to treating diseases.

“We are just thrilled that this connects so well with the state's efforts here in pro-human AI and really embodies those values,” Busse said. Utah has intentionally prioritized both AI policy and computing capacity, she added. “These two things together just create an enormous advantage for Utah to lead out in all things in AI.”

What is Redtail, and How Will it Be Used?

Redtail uses the same architecture as leading companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, securing Utah’s place at the forefront of research, education, and industry, said Bill Miller, university senior director for research computing and data. This cutting-edge AI factory is designed to maximize speed, efficiency, and parallel processing for AI projects of all types and scales. The result is a world-class system that ranks No. 159 for speed and No. 76 for efficiency, and No. 5 among U.S. public universities.

Redtail is also built for statewide access. The Utah Education and Telehealth Network collaborated to provide high-speed connectivity to the system for users across Utah, including public and higher education institutions.

To jumpstart system use, the U in July launched a call for projects from researchers in the Utah System of Higher Education. The first 21 Redtail projects, announced leading up to the symposium, span a wide range of fields—from environmental forecasting to the democratization of AI access to disease diagnosis and treatment—and include collaborators from across the country. “This is a cross-state and national engagement, and it's important strategically to advance Utah's AI leadership,” Miller said.

The broader Redtail ecosystem includes AI ambassadors and engineers, extensive training programs, and innovation labs. That ecosystem will be crucial to expanding Redtail access across sectors, beyond higher education. Parashar, Miller, and other leaders behind Redtail are also working toward connecting the system to AI infrastructure at the federal level, including NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission, and the U.S. National Science Foundation National AI Research Resource.

Several of Redtail’s inaugural projects will use AI to deepen understanding of diseases and basic human biology. Huntsman Cancer Institute CEO Bradley Cairns said Redtail will help researchers identify new treatments and detect cancer earlier, when it's more localized and easier to stop.

“We are so excited about Redtail,” Cairns said at the symposium. “More genes that cause inherited cancers have been discovered at Huntsman Cancer Institute than any other university in the world. And Redtail will continue and enhance on that legacy by enabling a new era in cancer genetics.”

One-U RAI’s Role: Pairing Infrastructure with Transformational Research and Critical Conversations

Malachowsky and other symposium speakers emphasized that while AI infrastructure is important, its impact hinges on broader ecosystems finding ways to use AI to benefit society. One-U RAI has spent its first three years building that ecosystem: supporting interdisciplinary research, developing AI talent, and convening campus and community conversations about how AI should be used.

The initiative’s impact was on full display at the symposium, including via 22 research lightning talks and 50 research posters, a record number for the event. SCI Director of Research and Science Penny Atkins also highlighted the initiative's expansive efforts and how it embodies its “One-U” name.

In the past year alone, One-U RAI grew its existing programs: it awarded 12 new faculty fellows and seven postdoctoral fellows, with cohorts announced in winter and summer. Plus, the initiative will welcome a record 13 new fellows in 2027.

One-U RAI also hosted a new AI ethics workshop series, its second annual hackathon, and a discussion on AI and sustainable innovation in higher education. It continued to support the Utah Responsible AI Community Consortium, which galvanizes the greater community to shape AI, including through the creation of public-facing resources.

Core to 2026 were new programs: seed grants, graduate student fellowships, cluster hires, and inaugural awards to recognize three individuals at the U who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing responsible AI.

These efforts create the expertise and engagement needed to translate Redtail’s technical capacity into useful work for Utah. During an opening talk, Provost Mitzi Montoya recognized the broad, interdisciplinary network built by Parashar, Atkins and the greater One-U RAI team spanning staff, researchers, committee members, and community volunteers.

“This is the role of a public research university in its most basic form: that we develop technology, we convene people, we share knowledge, and we develop solutions to real problems in our community and in the world,” Montoya said.

And Redtail, the provost added, represents a new chapter for One-U RAI, the university, and the state.

“It's more than a powerful machine. This is a platform for turning ideas into practical solutions and preparing Utah's workforce,” Montoya said. “We have the research excellence, and most importantly in this state, the entrepreneurial spirit and collaborative culture to lead in this area. This is how we will pursue unsurpassed societal impact, which is the vision of this institution, and how we will improve lives in Utah and beyond.”

View the complete symposium agenda and sign up for emails from One-U RAI for the latest updates.

Thank you to the generous sponsors that made the symposium possible: HPE, Cisco, Amplify SI, Utah Department of Commerce, Google Public Sector | Carahsoft, and Nucleus.