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For 45 years, ATDC has helped Georgia founders build. For the past year, it’s been building something new behind the scenes.
North Star AI Labs, which officially launched to the public this week after quietly building since February 2025, is designed to be a first launching pad for Georgia founders looking to build AI but have to date lacked the tools, space, or community to do so.
James Harris, ATDC’s entrepreneur-in-residence and the one at the center of the new lab, says the lab is designed to help local founders get access to “help, hardware, and talent.”
Inside the ATDC Lab
The space is part physical, part digital. The physical component functions like a mini data center, as ATDC has acquired a server hub where entrepreneurs can actually test and iterate on an idea without needing a massive budget or enterprise tech contracts. This decreases costly barriers to entry for tech entrepreneurs looking to test out proprietary ideas.
The equipment, sourced from Georgia Tech surplus, gives the space a scrappy and true startup feel.
Alongside the lab is an AI Lounge and coworking space. On any given day you’ll find students working on projects or people in the community coming into the space for workshops and networking opportunities. The Georgia Tech AI Club is already involved, and more student organizations are in the pipeline.
Investors have already started showing up in the space during “mini demo days,” that highlight local AI founders.
The whole initiative, Harris told Hypepotamus, is about helping founders “derisk the AI transition.” It is about making it possible to move fast and build smart without betting the whole company on infrastructure decisions made too early.
“Most AI labs are not accessible to startups,” Harris said in the official launch announcement. “If you’re a small business, you can’t just walk into a university lab and start building.”
The lab’s founding sponsor is Hartmann Studios, a San Francisco-based brand experience agency with a presence in Atlanta.
A Bigger Bet on Georgia
Any company in the State of Georgia can join ATDC.
That matters for the future of tech businesses in the state, said Harris.
“We have every opportunity to lead in AI startup and development,” he told Hypepotamus, adding that doesn’t just mean Applied AI (meaning a company that builds products and workflows on top of existing AI models and infrastructure). For Harris, the state has the talent locally to build what’s new and what’s next in AI.
North Star represents something of a new chapter and a new opportunity for ATDC to engage with more founders. The organization has long been a cornerstone of Georgia’s startup infrastructure, but has recently gone through internal and staff restructuring.
The lab has already seen hundreds of participants move through its programming since it began operating quietly. New startups have emerged from the community. The early signal, Harris believes, is proof of concept for what Georgia’s innovation ecosystem can become.
Harris believes that’s just the beginning.
“We have a moment here,” he said.
