Mississippi is looking to the future. And the future begins now. With a memorandum of understanding with NVIDIA, signed in June, the state is partnering with the global corporation to focus on large-scale AI education, workforce development, research, and economic initiatives. These will not only generate immense opportunities and benefits for residents, businesses, and investors in the Magnolia State, but also position it as a tech hub for the South.
“This collaboration with NVIDIA is monumental for Mississippi,” says Governor Tate Reeves. “By expanding AI education, investing in workforce development and encouraging innovation, we, along with NVIDIA, are creating a pathway to dynamic careers in AI and cybersecurity for Mississippians. These are the in-demand jobs of the future—jobs that will change the landscape of our economy for generations to come.”
Photo Courtesy of Mississippi Development Authority
Along with states like Utah, California, and Oregon, which have similar agreements with NVIDIA, Mississippi will incorporate AI, machine learning, and data science programs in its community colleges, universities, and technical schools, aiming to train 10,000 residents for future-oriented careers in areas like cybersecurity. Educators will be certified through NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Institute. “By expanding AI education and fostering collaboration between our research institutions, industry leaders, and workforce initiatives, we are creating an ecosystem that drives innovation and expands Mississippi’s capabilities in AI and cybersecurity,” notes Courtney Taylor, executive director of Accelerate MS, which helps to coordinate such efforts.
The state has also actively responded to the rapid advancement of AI by establishing the nation’s first AI system—the Mississippi Artificial Intelligence Network (MAIN)—which is shaping its approach to artificial intelligence and workforce development. Now, thanks to the launch of the Mississippi AI Talent Accelerator Program (MAI-TAP) and $9.1 million in grants to institutions of higher education, the state is expanding its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), another step in attracting next-generation employers to Mississippi. The AWS data center investment of $10 billion created 1,000 jobs with salaries averaging $66,000. Another company that has since taken notice is AVAIO Digital, which is locating a $6 billion data center complex in Brandon, just east of Jackson.
Notes Governor Reeves, “The AWS project has had a remarkable ripple effect, and while it’s still under construction, thousands are already at work due to AWS choosing to locate in Mississippi. That project positioned Mississippi as a hub for cloud computing and machine learning, and others have taken notice —like Compass Datacenters, which is locating a data center complex in Meridian. The project will eventually mark $10 billion in new investments.”
Photo Courtesy of Mississippi Development Authority
The state’s commitment to providing customized workforce training solutions for traditional and up-and-coming industries continues to reap benefits for employers. Following Accelerate MS guidelines, Meridian Community College, for example, has provided employer-targeted training for more than 400 companies and 14,000 individuals in 2024-25, serving businesses such as Lockheed Martin, Van Zyverden, Fairbanks Scales, and Anderson’s Regional Health Systems, to name just a few. To cite another example, East Mississippi Community College’s engineering and technology division developed a noncredit., stackable credential pathway that was geared to employer needs.
The emphasis on AI and tech-driven economic initiatives meshes with Mississippi’s increasingly favorable business climate. The state is eliminating the individual income tax, and in 2024 was ranked number 2 in real GDP growth. Among the many major companies that already call the Magnolia State home are Nissan, Toyota, Continental Tire, Amazon, AWS, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Wayne-Sanderson Farms, Viking, and Northrop Grumman.
More importantly, all these efforts converge to point the way to a dynamic future, notes Bill Cork, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority: The AWS project “positioned Mississippi as a hub for AI and machine learning, and now other similar companies are showing up to learn more about the ‘Mississippi Momentum’ and what we can offer them.” The AWS arrival also, he adds, “validates the fact that our investments in infrastructure, workforce development and pro-business policies are paying off. AWS choosing Mississippi affirms that we’re not just in the game, but we’re in it to win it—and we’re knocking it out of the park. We have a talented team of economic developers and partners who work countless hours to bring these types of wins to our communities, and seeing them go from a concept to something tangible always validates the work we do day in and day out.”