News

J&J Launches AI Fund for Surgery with Nvidia, AWS Partnership

• By John K. Waters
• 06/25/2025

Johnson & Johnson MedTech, the company's medical technology division has established a new artificial intelligence fund aimed at advancing surgical applications, partnering with Nvidia and Amazon Web Services to evaluate proposals and provide technical resources.

The Polyphonic AI Fund for Surgery will accept submissions from academic institutions, startups and established companies developing AI solutions for pre-operative, intraoperative and post-operative care. Selected recipients will receive grants of up to $100,000, along with access to computing resources, development tools and datasets.

Representatives from Nvidia and AWS will join J&J MedTech on an evaluation committee to review applications and select awardees. The program builds on existing collaborations between J&J and Nvidia focused on real-time surgical data analysis.

"Surgeons and their teams are asking for AI to make an impact," said Hani Abouhalka, Company Group Chairman for Surgery at J&J MedTech, in a statement. "As global leaders in surgery, we are in a position to convene solutions that can improve surgery and offer the expertise and infrastructure to bring these solutions to light through our digital ecosystem."

The initiative leverages J&J's QuickFire Challenge program, which has previously supported developers in neuroscience, oncology and respiratory therapies through the company's innovation arm and JLABS accelerator locations.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with awardees announced quarterly through the end of 2026. The first submission deadline is August 22, 2025.

The fund targets proposals supporting AI model development, data engineering and governance frameworks for surgical applications. J&J cited survey data showing that nearly 95% of healthcare professionals advocate for greater AI integration in daily practice.

The program connects to J&J's broader Polyphonic Digital Ecosystem, a platform that allows surgeons to track patients through surgical workflows and share training materials within health systems. The ecosystem currently operates in early access mode at select hospitals.

J&J has been working with Nvidia since last year to develop AI technologies using Nvidia's IGX edge computing platform and Holoscan platform for real-time surgical applications. The collaboration focuses on creating annotated surgical datasets, enabling collaborative AI development and establishing governance frameworks for surgical video analysis.

"We are just scratching the surface of what's possible when surgeons and technologists come together to solve problems," said Dr. Amin Madani, an endocrine and acute care surgeon who serves as a paid consultant for J&J MedTech. "Surgeons and researchers want their work in AI to make an impact, but we are challenged to find a path from bench to bedside."

The fund aims to address challenges including data privacy, surgical training, automation of data processing and research efficiency. J&J said intellectual property developed through the program will remain with inventors.