# Announcing Capital One's 2026 UIUC AI Awardees

DevFeed: [Announcing Capital One's 2026 UIUC AI Awardees](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/announcing-capital-one-s-2026-uiuc-ai-awardees-22569.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://medium.com/capital-one-tech/announcing-capital-ones-2026-uiuc-ai-awardees-729fc61a899d?source=rss----3db3a67cb648---4>)

Author: Capital One Tech

Published: 2026-07-21T14:45:44Z

Content type: release

Language: en

Sources: [Capital One Tech](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/capital-one-tech.md>)

Topics: [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>), [ai safety](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-safety.md>), [Generative AI](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/generative-ai.md>), [Large Language Model](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/llm.md>), [Code generation](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code-generation.md>), [Cybersecurity](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cybersecurity.md>)

Tags: [2026](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/2026.md>), [academic-research](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/academic-research.md>), [agentic-ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agentic-ai.md>), [agents](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/agents.md>), [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [ai-research](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-research.md>), [ai-safety](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-safety.md>), [code-generation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code-generation.md>), [cybersecurity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cybersecurity.md>), [generative-ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/generative-ai.md>), [large-language-models-llms](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/large-language-models-llms.md>), [research](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/research.md>), [science](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/science.md>)

## AI overview

Capital One announces its 2026-2027 research and fellowship awardees from the University of Illinois. The featured projects address LLM reasoning faithfulness, code reasoning, imaginative LLM agents, and agentic AI safety.

## Source excerpt

Meet the University of Illinois researchers and fellows advancing Agentic AI through our academic partnership.Announcing the Center for Generative AI Safety, Knowledge Systems, and Cybersecurity (ASKS) 2026-2027 Capital One Research Awardees from the University of Illinois As we look toward the 2026-2027 academic year, we continue to partner with institutions that lead the global conversation on the future of intelligence. We are thrilled to announce this year's cohort of research and fellowship awardees from the University of Illinois, whose pioneering work addresses the most critical frontier in technology today: Agentic AI. From the way machines "think" and "imagine" to the hardware that powers them and the safety protocols that govern them, these five projects represent Capital One's holistic push toward AI that is not only powerful but also faithful, safe and creative. The 2026-2027 research awardees1. Ensuring Intellectual Honesty Advancing LLM Reasoning Faithfulness without Faithfulness Rewards Faculty: Hao Peng Professor Peng is tackling the "hallucination" problem at its core. By developing methods to ensure large language models (LLMs) follow a logical, faithful reasoning path-without relying on traditional, often biased, reward systems-this work ensures that when an AI gives an answer, the "why" behind it is actually true, a critical component for trustworthy financial applications. TrACE-Contrast: Faithful & Consistent Code Reasoning via Trace-Aware Contrastive Learning Faculty: Talia Ringer and Reyhan Jabaarvand Writing code is one thing; understanding how it executes is another. Professor Ringer's project uses contrastive learning to align a model's code generation with its actual execution "trace." This ensures that AI-generated software is verified and logically sound, which is vital for maintaining the integrity of our core technology systems. 2. Bridging the Gap: Agency & Imagination Creative LLM Agents based on Thinking with Imagination Faculty: H