The Department of Energy (DoE) on Tuesday unveiled a roadmap for its new Frontiers in AI for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) initiative announced earlier this year.
Through FASST, DoE and its 17 national laboratories aim to “build the world’s most powerful integrated scientific AI systems for science, energy, and national security,” the agency said in a July 16 press release.
DoE’s FASST initiative keys on four interconnected pillars: AI-ready data; frontier-scale AI computing infrastructure and platforms; safe, secure, and trustworthy AI models and systems; and AI applications.
“Artificial intelligence is an innovative technology that can help unleash breakthroughs in energy technologies and enhance our national security,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. “FASST builds on DOE’s role as the nation’s steward of advanced supercomputing and research infrastructure across our 17 national labs to provide a national capability in AI and enable technological breakthroughs for decades to come.”
The department’s roadmap for FASST entails the key DoE infrastructure it plans to leverage, the assets it will deliver for the national interest, and its organizing framework for providing a national AI capability.
“FASST will transform the vast repositories of scientific data produced at DOE user facilities to be AI-ready and build the next-generation of highly energy efficient AI supercomputers,” the department said. “This national AI capability will allow U.S. researchers, including the 40,000 scientists at the national labs, to develop trustworthy foundation AI models to realize breakthroughs in a variety of scientific and energy applications.”
DoE highlighted recent AI scientific breakthroughs at its national labs in partnership with industry. According to the press release, Lawrence Livermore National Lab is holding clinical trials for a cancer drug designed with AI and supercomputing infrastructure in partnership with BridgeBio, and Pacific Northwest National Lab discovered a new battery material with AI in partnership with Microsoft.
“FASST intends to build off these early successes and the history of successful public private partnerships at DOE to provide a national AI capability to meet the nation’s national security, energy security, and scientific discovery mission needs,” DoE said.
DoE’s roadmap follows legislation introduced last week by Sens. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that would authorize the FASST initiative and advance the agency’s role in boosting the technology.
“The DOE and its network of National Laboratories are ready and able to bring our nation to the next level of scientific discovery and global competitiveness through the innovation of safe and responsible AI,” Sen. Manchin said in a July 10 press release.
