Energy Secretary Rick Perry has stood up a new Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office within his agency to serve as a coordinating hub for the AI work already being done enterprisewide.
Following President Donald Trump’s call for a national AI strategy, the office intends to “accelerate the delivery of AI-enabled capabilities, scale the department-wide development and impact of AI, and synchronize AI activities to advance the agency’s core missions, expand partnerships, and support American AI Leadership,” according to its mission statement.
The Energy Department is already using AI in several its activities: to strengthen national security and cybersecurity; improve grid resilience; increase environmental sustainability; allow for smarter cities; improve water resource management; speed the discovery of new materials and compounds; and accelerate the understanding, prediction and treatment of new disease.
Plus, the department’s National Labs house four of the top 10 fastest supercomputers in the world, and the department is building three next-generation exascale computers slated to be faster and more AI capable.
And in what Perry referred to as the Golden Age of AI, he said the Energy Department’s scientific and computing capabilities will be critical to securing the nation’s dominance in the field.
“This new office housed within the Department of Energy will concentrate our existing efforts while also facilitating partnerships and access to federal data, models and high performance computing resources for America’s AI researchers,” he said. “Its mission will be to elevate, accelerate and expand DOE’s transformative work to accelerate America’s progress in AI for years to come.”
