University of Utah counted among globe’s emerging artificial intelligence research schools

KEY POINTS

The University of Utah is ranked 77th in academic AI research, according to analysis.

The state's flagship university has made Artificial Intelligence a defining institutional priority over the past year.

Analysis finds California's Stanford University is the global leader in academic AI research.

Earlier this year, University of Utah President Taylor Randall sat in front of lawmakers and echoed an alarm: China was outpacing the United States in artificial intelligence and other critical technologies.

Randall labeled the ongoing global “AI race” a “sputnik moment,” recalling the alarming Cold War chapter when the Russians launched an artificial satellite — dubbed Sputnik 1 — prior to the United States.

It’s essential, Randall told legislators, that American universities —