The Department of Energy’s Network of National Laboratories is seeking new business ventures to develop AI-optimized systems that can power the next generation of research.
Money is a machine
The 2025 AI Action Plan, included in the “One Big Big Bill Act,” allocates $150 million through 2026 specifically for AI efforts at DOE laboratories.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is set to receive two new AMD high-speed AI computers through a public-private partnership. First deliveries are expected soon, with larger, more capable machines expected in 2028.
Creating a coordination layer
The DOE established the National Laboratory AI Roundtable, a coordinating body that includes 8 national labs designed to coordinate AI standards and facilitate deployment across the department’s research community.
The CM2US project aims to use AI to find ways to find the minerals needed in the US, using machine learning to accelerate the discovery and mining of domestic minerals.
Security number
Researchers have shown that combining the power of AI with the infrastructure of the National Nuclear Security Administration could strengthen the security capabilities of the US as it creates new areas of attack in additional areas of data sharing between labs and private partners.
What does this mean for the tech landscape?
AMD stands to benefit directly from the Oak Ridge agreement, which guarantees its data center and HPC system acceleration at a time when the company is fighting to break the market against NVIDIA’s dominance in the field of AI training.
