What happened
New Jersey has established a $20 million NJ AI Hub Fund to support early‑stage artificial intelligence startups. The fund, announced by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) and CoreWeave, will provide capital, mentorship and business support to companies associated with the NJ AI Hub Strategic Innovation Center. The initiative also includes an AI accelerator managed by Plug and Play and a statewide AI Challenge to cultivate AI solutions from students, researchers and entrepreneurs.
Who is affected
The primary beneficiaries are AI startups and innovators based in or connected to New Jersey. Key stakeholders include:
- Governor Phil Murphy and the state government for economic development leadership;
- Tim Sullivan, CEO of NJEDA
- Brian Venturo, Co‑Founder and CSO of CoreWeave
- Liat Krawczyk, Executive Director of the NJ AI Hub
- Plug and Play as the accelerator partner
Why CISOs should care
While this is primarily an economic development program, CISOs should take note of how state‑level support for AI innovation can accelerate the development of AI technologies that intersect with security risks and opportunities. Increased funding and commercialization of AI tools can:
- introduce new AI‑powered platforms and services that need security evaluation;
- encourage startups that may build tools impacting identity, threat detection, automation and data handling;
- shift regional talent and investment that could influence cybersecurity hiring and partnerships. Understanding these evolving ecosystems can help security leaders anticipate emerging technologies and their associated risks.
3 practical actions
- Monitor emerging AI vendors from the NJ AI Hub ecosystem for security posture and compliance characteristics before adoption.
- Engage with regional innovation initiatives to influence secure development practices early.
- Update procurement and risk frameworks to address AI‑specific threats and vulnerabilities as startups mature and products enter your technology stack.