TL;DR
The Department of Energy has announced more than $320 million in awards to begin building President Trump's 'Genesis Mission,' a national AI effort to accelerate scientific discovery. Four initiatives — including an American Science Cloud and a Transformational AI Models Consortium — will link national labs, industry and academia to develop AI-ready data, models and automated lab systems.
What happened
The Department of Energy disclosed plans and initial funding exceeding $320 million to kick off work on the administration's Genesis Mission, a presidential initiative to apply AI across major scientific domains. The DOE outlined four pillars: an American Science Cloud (AmSC) to host and distribute scientific data and AI models; a Transformational AI Models Consortium (ModCon) to build self-improving models aimed at science, engineering and energy generation; a group of 14 projects focused on robotics, automated laboratories and autonomous control of large experiments; and a set of 37 Foundational AI awards to curate datasets and produce validated models for scientific use. The agency says AmSC will receive an initial $40 million over the next couple of years (with a possible total up to $75 million) and has called on its national laboratories for proposals to form an integrated development team. Additional line items cited include funding for AI work in nuclear science, high-energy physics and basic energy sciences.
Why it matters
- Centralizes computing and data resources across DOE national labs, industry and academia, which could change how research is conducted.
- Aims to accelerate discovery in priority areas such as fusion, new materials, quantum computing and drug discovery by applying large-scale AI.
- Investment in automated labs and autonomous experiment control may alter laboratory workflows and experiment throughput.
- Industry partnerships listed by the DOE suggest the initiative will leverage commercial AI and cloud capabilities alongside government facilities.
Key facts
- DOE announced more than $320 million in awards to begin implementing the Genesis Mission.
- Four initiative areas were disclosed: American Science Cloud, Transformational AI Models Consortium, 14 automation/robotics projects, and 37 Foundational AI awards.
- The American Science Cloud is intended to host and distribute AI models and scientific datasets to the research community.
- ModCon is charged with creating self-improving AI models to support science, engineering and energy generation; DOE cited $30 million for ModCon.
- DOE cited an initial $40 million for AmSC implementation over the next couple of years, noting the AmSC total could reach $75 million.
- The DOE funding page lists targeted amounts including $16.6M for AI in nuclear science, $22M for hardware-aware AI in high-energy physics, $47.6M for advanced computing in basic energy sciences, and $87M for AI investments generally.
- The plan intends to connect resources across the department's 17 National Laboratories with industry and academic partners.
- Industry collaborators named on the DOE Genesis webpage include AMD, Microsoft, Oracle, Anthropic, Nvidia, IBM, AWS and OpenAI.
What to watch next
- Which DOE national laboratory or team is chosen to lead development of the American Science Cloud — not confirmed in the source.
- Whether AmSC funding will reach the hinted $75 million total and how the additional funds would be allocated.
- Timelines and measurable deliverables for ModCon's self-improving models and the 14 automation projects — not confirmed in the source.
Quick glossary
- American Science Cloud (AmSC): A proposed infrastructure to host and distribute scientific datasets and AI models to researchers across government, industry and academia.
- Transformational AI Models Consortium (ModCon): A collaborative effort intended to develop advanced, self-improving AI models aimed at accelerating scientific and engineering research.
- Foundational AI awards: Grants intended to curate existing datasets and build AI models that are validated for use in scientific applications.
- National Laboratories: DOE-run research centers that house major scientific facilities and computational resources used for national-scale research projects.
Reader FAQ
How much funding did the DOE announce for the Genesis Mission?
The DOE disclosed more than $320 million in awards tied to the Genesis Mission.
What are the main components of the DOE plan?
Four areas: the American Science Cloud, the Transformational AI Models Consortium, 14 projects on robotics/automation, and 37 Foundational AI awards.
Which scientific areas will the effort target?
The initiative is intended to cover fusion energy, new materials, quantum computing and drug discovery.
Who will lead AmSC development and the other initiatives?
Not confirmed in the source.
Which industry partners are involved?
DOE listed collaborators including AMD, Microsoft, Oracle, Anthropic, Nvidia, IBM, AWS and OpenAI.
SCIENCE 16 Trump's AI 'Genesis Mission' emerges from Land of Confusion DOE lays out $320M plan for science platform linking national labs, industry, and academia Dan Robinson Thu 11 Dec 2025 // 12:56 UTC…
Sources
- Trump's AI 'Genesis Mission' emerges from Land of Confusion
- Frontier Supercomputer Ushers in New Era of Nuclear AI
- Kubernetes Meets HPC | Inside HPC & AI News
- What Is Data Warehouse As A Service (DWaaS)?
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