Computing Assets and White Space Infrastructure Advanced SI/AI and HPC Computing Infrastructure • Up to 5 MW IT Load

Empire AI Consortium, Inc. ("Empire AI" or the "Consortium") is a public-private artificial intelligence research consortium created to secure New York State's place at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution.

Through this Request for Information ("RFI"), Empire AI seeks information from qualified technology providers, system integrators, and their engineering and construction partners ("Respondents") regarding (a) the computing assets for the Gamma deployment, comprising a high-performance, accelerator-based computing infrastructure supporting large-scale AI training, inference, and scientific computing, with up to 5 MW of IT load; and (b) the white space infrastructure required to support those computing assets within the Facility, including coolant distribution units (CDUs), the technical cooling system, flywheel uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, and 480 V distribution panelboards.

This RFI is a formal, non-competitive informational inquiry. This is not a solicitation. No contract will be awarded on the basis of responses to this RFI, and submittal of a response is not a condition for consideration in any future procurement.

The objectives of this RFI are to:

• Obtain high-level architectural concepts and suggested system configurations for the Gamma computing system, including specific information on accelerators, CPUs, memory, scale-up and scale-out networking, storage, software, and rack-level power and cooling requirements.
• Obtain information on the white space infrastructure required to deploy the suggested computing system in the Facility, and the boundary between Respondent-provided and building-provided infrastructure.
• Obtain indicative acquisition, installation, and operating costs in a common format (Attachment A) so that responses can be compared on a consistent basis.
• Obtain Respondents' recommendations on spend rate and timing — how the Program Budget should be divided between the Gamma and Delta tranches — with detailed supporting rationale.
• Understand delivery timelines, supply chain risks, and the principal technical and commercial uncertainties affecting a Gamma deployment in 2027–2028.
• Identify the information, reference workloads, requirements, and evaluation criteria that Empire AI should include in a subsequent Request for Proposals ("RFP").

CDUs, secondary (technology-side) piping, rack manifolds, and associated specialties are not included in the base building scope and are requested as part of the white space infrastructure under this RFI. The flywheel UPS systems are not included in the base building construction scope and are requested as part of the white space infrastructure under this RFI.

**Procurement Lobbying Law.** This RFI is subject to State Finance Law §§139-j and 139-k (the "Procurement Lobbying Law"). Respondents are restricted from making contacts with Empire AI regarding this RFI and any subsequent procurement, from the issuance of this RFI through final award and approval of any resulting procurement contract (the "Restricted Period"), to anyone other than the Designated Contact identified in Section IX.2, unless the contact is among the statutory exceptions set forth in State Finance Law §139-j(3)(a). [...] Respondents are not required to submit Procurement Lobbying Law forms with RFI responses; such forms will be required with any subsequent RFP.

**Responses due:** December 4, 2026, 4:00 PM ET.