ICYMI: PASSED: Murray Secures Over $5 Billion for WA Priorities in Three-Bill Funding Package; Historic Funding for Hanford, $190 Million for Howard Hanson Dam, Rejecting Trump Cuts
***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL FROM TOUR HERE***
Seattle, WA — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, toured the University of Washington’s Husky Secure Computing Data and Infrastructure project after securing $10 million for a new, cutting-edge computing and storage platform that will integrate advanced artificial intelligence (AI) computing to allow researchers to perform data-intensive AI research.
During the visit, Senator Murray learned more about the project and the cutting-edge AI research happening at UW—a nationally-recognized AI research hub—and spoke with researchers and students about how their work is critical for understanding the future of AI. Murray secured $10 million for the project through Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) in the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill she played a key role in negotiating as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Murray secured a total $14.5 million in CDS projects for UW in the three-bill funding package that passed the Senate on Thursday and is expected to soon be signed into law.
“When it comes to AI research, UW and Washington state are leading the way—and I’m proud to be bringing home $10 million in our funding bills to advance the cutting-edge AI research that’s happening at UW and take it to the next level,” said Senator Murray. “I worked to secure this funding because I know how critical this research is to expand Washington state’s AI workforce and talent pipeline and grow our competitive edge in AI and advanced computing. It was important to hear from researchers and students today about their work, and I can’t wait to see what kind of research breakthroughs they’re able to make with even more advanced computing infrastructure in the coming years. In Congress I’m fighting to make sure AI is working for us, not the other way around. It’s really important that the average American sees the benefits of AI—it can’t just be something that drives up profits for billionaires and CEOs.”
“UW is proud to be a nationally recognized AI research hub. With these additional federal resources secured by Senator Murray, UW will expand our institution’s computing and storage infrastructure to ensure that UW is able to take the cutting-edge work to the next level. The advancements we will make using AI will help people across a spectrum — and in more ways that people can imagine, whether that’s medicine, space exploration, or helping protect salmon. Investments like this will ensure that UW and the region continue to grow as a hub of innovation, which will bring more talent and jobs to Seattle and Washington state. We appreciate all of Senator Murray’s hard work on this critically important effort for UW. Her leadership in Washington, DC and at home cannot be overstated or overvalued,” said Robert J. Jones, President, University of Washington.
The University of Washington is a leading AI research institution, integrating AI and Machine Learning across a host of domains. UW will use the $10 million in funding Senator Murray secured to purchase servers and computing equipment that allow it to build its own data storage platform to support AI workloads and research. Currently, UW maintains a limited amount of server capacity that it can use to conduct AI research—but for larger experiments, it relies on AI platforms owned by others. Establishing its own in-house AI platform will enable UW to pursue more and larger-scale AI research, without the constraints and cost that come with relying on private-sector server capacity. This in-house AI platform will also broaden access to undergraduates to conduct experiments and strengthen Washington state’s AI workforce, expanding talent pipeline to meet growing demand.
Senator Murray secured a total $14.5 million in CDS funding for the University of Washington. In addition to the $10 million for the Husky Secure Computing Data & Infrastructure project, Senator Murray also brought home $3 million for new fan blades for the Kirsten Wind Tunnel, and $1.5 million for improvements to UW’s Radiocarbon Lab.
Senator Murray knows how important it is for Washington state, and America, to keep its competitive edge in AI research—which means we must invest federal funding in scientific programs. The Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2026 that Senator Murray negotiated—and that is expected to soon be signed into law—includes $1.8 billion for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) overall, an increase of $690 million over last year’s funding level. This includes no less than $55 million for AI research, an increase of $20 million, and up to $10 million for NIST’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation to advance AI research, standards, and testing. President Trump’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2026 proposed cutting NIST by more than 28 percent.
Senator Murray also played a key role in helping to pass the bipartisan Chips and Science Act which makes historic investments in American manufacturing, and research and development. The bill included AI scholarships through NSF, funding for the Department of Energy’s research and development on AI and machine learning, support for the National Institute of Standards and Technology work on AI and quantum information science, and resources for the creation of a NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships which will focus on domestic development of AI and other quantum computing.
Over the past year, Senator Murray has also been outspoken against President Trump’s efforts to ban states from regulating AI, and she introduced legislation to stop the Trump administration’s pilot program putting AI companies between seniors on Medicare and their doctors.
###
