US Energy Department commits $159 million to put AI into fusion, chip and quantum research

## US Energy Department commits $159 million to put AI into fusion, chip and quantum research On October 8, the US Department of Energy announced 12 Phase II projects under the Genesis Mission, totaling $159 million, with the goal of embedding AI deeply in the scientific discovery workflows of the national laboratories. **Key points** - **Where the money goes**: One of the 12 Phase II projects is to build an AI digital twin platform for Commonwealth Fusion Systems' SPARC fusion demonstration device, to simulate and optimize its operation; the rest cover geothermal, radiation-hardened chips, RNA structure, rare-earth separation, quantum computing and more. - **Common logic**: Fusion experiments, geothermal reservoirs and chip design all require searching a vast design space for the optimum. AI's job is to help scientists decide "what to simulate, build and test next", shortening the distance from idea to usable result. - **Scale**: Including earlier batches, the Genesis Mission's first-year project queue has reached 297, and the Phase II portfolio totals 14 projects. The Energy Department's under secretary for science called this a key step in "turning the promise of AI for science into transformative research capabilities". > Source: [read the original](https://www.unite.ai/doe-genesis-mission-159m-scientific-ai/). This text is a summary for reference only.