President Donald Trump has directed the federal government to collaborate with technology companies and universities to translate government data into scientific breakthroughs, as part of his ambition to make artificial intelligence the driving force behind the country’s economic future.
Trump introduced the “Genesis Mission” as part of an executive order signed Monday, which requires the Department of Energy and national labs to create a digital platform to centralize the nation’s scientific data.
According to White House officials who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity before the order was signed, it asks university and private sector partners to use their AI capabilities to assist the government in solving engineering, energy, and national security issues, including simplifying the country’s electric grid. As part of the endeavor, officials did not specifically mention looking for medical advancements.
The executive order states, “To achieve dramatic acceleration in AI development and utilization, the Genesis Mission will bring together our Nation’s research and development resources— combining the efforts of brilliant American scientists, including those at our national laboratories, with pioneering American businesses; world-renowned universities; and existing research infrastructure, data repositories, production plants, and national security sites.”
Despite cutting billions of dollars in federal funding for scientific research, thousands of scientists lost their jobs, and the administration presented the endeavor as the government’s most ambitious mobilization of federal scientific resources since the Apollo space missions of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Trump, who welcomed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last week, made it plain that he is more relying on the technology industry and AI growth to boost the US economy. The monarch has pledged to invest $1 trillion, primarily from the Arab nation’s oil and gas reserves, to transform his country into an AI data powerhouse.
According to White House officials, the Energy Department received financing as part of the huge tax-break and spending plan signed into law by Trump in July.
As AI raises fears that its excessive consumption of power may contribute to increased utility prices in the near future, posing a political danger for Trump, government officials contend that rates will fall as the technology advances. They claimed that rising demand would enhance capacity in existing transmission lines and reduce power costs per unit.
According to the International Energy Agency, data centers used to power AI consumed around 1.5% of global electricity last year, and their energy consumption is expected to more than quadruple by 2030. This growth might lead to the usage of additional fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, which emit greenhouse gases that contribute to rising temperatures, sea level rise, and harsh weather.
The initiative will employ supercomputers from national labs as well as supercomputing capability generated in the private sector. The project’s utilization of public data, including national security information, as well as private sector supercomputers required officials to assure the public that classified information would be protected.
