Collaborative Research: CISE Crosscutting Small: SaTC: SAGE: Secure Accelerators for Next-Generation Foundation Models 

Funding Agency: National Science Foundation 

About the Project:

Foundation models are general-purpose technologies that power a wide range of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, including intelligent chatbots, voice assistants, cyber threat detection systems, and autonomous robots. These models can also be adapted to new tasks via fine-tuning techniques. However, the local deployment of foundation models on consumer devices is challenging due to the models’ large size and high computational demands. The models also face significant security risks, such as intellectual property (IP) theft and malicious tampering, when deployed outside of secure platforms. To address these challenges, this project will build modular hardware accelerators that enable secure and efficient deployment of fine-tuned foundation models in consumer devices. These accelerators can be securely integrated into existing AI hardware systems and will play a critical role in enhancing the security and resilience of the United States AI semiconductor supply chain.