U.S. Energy Department picks 278 AI science projects under Genesis Mission

The U.S. Department of Energy, under Secretary Chris Wright, announced the first batch of awards under the Genesis Mission, a presidential initiative to harness AI for scientific breakthroughs. The announcement revealed 278 projects selected from what Wright described as "the largest response to a funding opportunity in DOE history." The portfolio spans 342 participating institutions: 16 DOE and NNSA National Laboratories, 142 universities, 157 companies, 13 nonprofit organizations, and 14 other institutions.

The selected projects break down as follows: 87 are led by DOE and NNSA National Laboratories, 168 by universities, 19 by companies, and 4 by nonprofit organizations. The awards will tackle some of the nation's most pressing challenges, including nuclear energy, critical mineral extraction, intelligent chip design, and commercial fusion energy. The single largest award is a three-year, $60 million（約96億円） investment in nuclear energy, designed to use AI to accelerate the delivery of nuclear facilities, improve safety, and reduce operating costs—directly supporting the administration's goal to provide Americans with affordable, reliable, and secure energy.

Under Secretary for Science Dr. Darío Gil emphasized that the strong response demonstrates the scientific community's readiness to reimagine discovery workflows. Participating researchers will gain access to the Genesis Mission Platform, which provides AI agent frameworks, advanced AI models and software contributed by industry partners, and high-performance computing resources located across DOE's National Laboratories and partner facilities. These resources will enable teams to rapidly design, test, and refine new AI-enabled scientific approaches.

The selection process involved rigorous merit review, but it is not yet binding. Before any funding is disbursed, DOE and applicants must enter formal negotiations. The department has explicitly reserved the right to cancel negotiations and rescind selections for any reason during this negotiation phase, meaning the 278 awards remain contingent on successful completion of that process.

The Genesis Mission represents a major federal commitment to embed AI into scientific research across multiple domains. Secretary Wright emphasized that the volume of proposals—described as the largest response to a DOE funding opportunity in the department's history—reflects strong institutional appetite among laboratories, universities, and the private sector to collaborate on AI-enabled discovery. The breadth of participating institutions (16 national labs, 142 universities, 157 companies, 13 nonprofits, and 14 other entities across 342 total institutions) suggests that the initiative is designed to function as a distributed national network rather than a centralized effort.

The portfolio's focus on nuclear energy, critical minerals, intelligent chip design, and fusion aligns with stated U.S. strategic priorities: energy independence, semiconductor capability, and national security. By providing awardees access to a shared Genesis Mission Platform—including AI agent frameworks, advanced models from industry partners, and DOE's supercomputing resources—the program appears intended to lower barriers to adopting cutting-edge AI tools in scientific workflows. However, the formal negotiation phase ahead means that the 278 selections do not yet commit DOE to funding; the department retains discretion to cancel.