Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced on Sept. 6 that the Department of Energy (DOE) plans to stand up the DOE Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office (AITO). The new office will serve as the “coordinating hub” for all AI-related work done across the agency, and is being created “as part of the President’s call for a national AI strategy.”
“The world is in the midst of the Golden Age of AI, and DOE’s world class scientific and computing capabilities will be critical to securing America’s dominance in this field,” Secretary Perry said in a statement. “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.”
According to the AITO website, the office’s mission will include:
- Accelerating the delivery of AI-enabled capabilities;
- Scaling the department-wide development of AI;
- Scaling the impact of AI on the department; and
- Synchronizing AI activities to advance DOE’s core missions, expand its partnerships, and support American AI leadership.
In its statement, DOE noted that its National Labs are home to four of the top-ten fastest supercomputers, and are working to build three next-generation exascale machines.
