White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios announced Wednesday that federal agencies have committed more than $5 billion to the "Genesis Mission." Led by the Department of Energy, the initiative aims to utilize artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific research across several sectors, including national security, biomedical research, and quantum computing.
During a summit on Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that 278 projects were selected from a pool of over 5,000 applications. The funding represents a shift in federal science spending toward AI-integrated projects and individual investigators. While some awardees are affiliated with universities, Kratsios noted that the administration is encouraging a move toward funding individual researchers over the large academic institutions that have traditionally received the majority of federal research grants.
The Genesis Mission was established following a November executive order. According to Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil, the program's success will be measured by advancements in quantum computing, the development of open-source and frontier AI models, and the construction of AI supercomputers. The largest single award, valued at $60 million, is dedicated to using AI tools to facilitate the launch of nuclear energy facilities and reduce their operating costs.
The initiative follows a report released Tuesday by the White House titled "Science: A New Golden Age." The report recommends that government funding prioritize AI applications and individual scholarship. Kratsios described the Genesis Mission as the implementation of the reforms outlined in that report, signaling a change in how the federal government interacts with the scientific community.