The U.S. Department of Energy has partnered with 24 companies in one of its broadest public-private coalitions to date on artificial intelligence, connecting some of the industry’s leading players with the department’s research labs.
The pacts take the form of memorandums of understanding rather than funded contracts. While the DOE did not attach a specific dollar figure to the partnerships, it said that participating companies either already have active projects at its national laboratories or have expressed interest in working with them.
“These agreements help advance President Trump’s Executive Order to build the national AI platform for scientific discovery and uplift the entire U.S. [research and development] ecosystem,” Darío Gil, the DOE’s under secretary for science and director of the Genesis Mission, said.
Nvidia said its partnership with DOE will focus on using advanced AI, robotics, and high-performance computing to improve how complex energy and scientific systems are designed and operated.
The work will span areas such as nuclear fusion and fission reactors, large experimental facilities, and digital simulations of critical infrastructure, as well as automated laboratories capable of making decisions in real time.
Amazon and Google said they will provide cloud computing resources and AI tools to help DOE scientists handle large research projects that require significant computing power. The companies said their technology is expected to support research across a wide range of fields, including nuclear energy, advanced manufacturing, new materials, biotechnology, quantum research, semiconductors, and Earth science.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said it will expand its existing work with Department of Energy laboratories, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, to integrate AI tools into researchers’ day-to-day work. The company said that as AI models continue to improve, they can help scientists explore ideas across disciplines, go through large bodies of research more effectively than traditional keyword-based searches, and test hypotheses before running experiments.
The wave of partnerships marks the latest in a series of Genesis-related announcements since the mission was launched through President Donald Trump’s executive order in November. Earlier in December, DOE earmarked $320 million to build up Genesis Mission’s AI capabilities.
Testifying before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology on Dec. 10, Gil warned that China is racing to outpace the United States in AI-driven industry and scientific advancement, and that this competition must be taken “with the seriousness that it deserves.”
“We operate with a profound sense of urgency, driven by the rapid pace of the computing revolution and this competitive landscape,” Gil told lawmakers. “We recognize that science, engineering, and technology are the new currency of strategic power, and that this is a race we must and will win.”
