More Agencies Join Genesis Mission to Further AI-Enabled Research

The Energy Department’s Genesis Mission has expanded into a governmentwide scientific research initiative, with NASA, the War Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Homeland Security joining the AI-powered effort to accelerate discovery and unify supercomputing nationally.  

This brings participation to more than 15 agencies, representing roughly $5 billion in research investments from the White House while increasing the number of National Science and Technology Challenges supported through Genesis from 26 to 33. The new challenges include AI for biomedical research, national security, space exploration and more in line with the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s R&D priorities for fiscal year 2028.  

Federal CTO Ethan Klein told reporters that the project is changing the way science is conducted to keep pace with the interconnectedness of the current R&D landscape.  

“What we are now seeing in the R&D space is the need for people who have an understanding of how to leverage and increase scientific productivity with AI, and that is what we are driving with Genesis,” Klein said at the Genesis Mission Summit last month. “In the months and years to come … any federally funded researcher will have AI in the loop of the full scientific discovery to supply chain development pipeline and put scientific discoveries into strategic capabilities for the country.”  

American Science Cloud Connects Federal Research

Central to the expansion is the launch of the American Science Cloud, a shared platform that connects AI models, scientific datasets, workflows and high-performance computing resources across the Energy Department’s national laboratory system.

The first funding round provides access to this platform to 342 organizations spanning national laboratories, federal research facilities, universities and private industry.

Brian Spears, technical director for the Genesis Mission, described the American Science Cloud as a unified environment that offers advanced tools for researchers who would otherwise build separate AI ecosystems.

“We have a platform with a capital P,” Spears said. “We’ll have all of these resources in one platform that can execute closed, self-reinforcing loops to bring a flywheel effect.”

DOE and its national laboratories lead 87 Genesis Mission projects, while the remaining funding awards are distributed among participating agencies, universities and industry partners. Researchers will receive access to AI frameworks, advanced foundation models, commercial software and DOE’s supercomputing resources.

Spears said the platform will continue evolving as researchers contribute new capabilities and provide feedback to the Genesis technical team.

Agencies Expand AI Research Through Shared Infrastructure

Energy Undersecretary for Science Darío Gil said collaboration between agencies since Genesis launched in 2025 has expanded both the number and scope of the initiative’s scientific challenges.

One of the newest agencies to join is the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, which joined the initiative in July. Its goal is to strengthen software assurance and critical infrastructure resilience using shared AI capabilities developed through Genesis.

Senior Cybersecurity Advisor Donald Coulter said the collaboration allows agencies to apply AI to better understand vulnerabilities in software systems that support critical infrastructure and national security missions.

“We all [government and industry] share the same underlying challenge of understanding and improving resiliency of software control systems throughout all mission and domain spaces,” said Coulter. “That elevates the assurance that our national security mission and the general functions our civilians depend on will be there when we need them, as we expect them to be.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is the latest agency to join the initiative. Its goal is to develop AI agents for cyberthreat detection and response. Through the Centers for AI in Manufacturing and Critical Infrastructure, a partnership between NIST and MITRE, researchers will evaluate AI agents to help secure electric grids, telecommunications networks, water systems and healthcare infrastructure.

National Labs Put AI to Work

National laboratory leaders said funding from Genesis is already supporting AI-driven research across multiple disciplines.

At Savannah River National Laboratory, researchers are using AI to improve the vitrification process that converts nuclear waste into stable glass for long-term storage. Laboratory Director Johney Green told reporters at the Genesis Mission Summit that AI models will help scientists better understand the gases released during the process, reducing downtime and lowering operational costs.

“If you can better understand those off-gasses emitted during vitrification, and understand the physics, then your vitrification process could run longer with less downtime and cost you less,” Green said.

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, researchers are applying AI-powered digital twins and high-performance simulations to design future fusion power plants. Director Stephen Streiffer told reporters that AI enables scientists to explore designs that would otherwise be impossible because commercial fusion facilities do not yet exist.

“We’ve taken high-performance modeling and simulation, and with AI we’re able to start generating new ideas and holistically look at designing a power plant and all the materials and steps needed to ultimately make fusion an economically viable technology,” Streiffer said.