The Department of Energy’s National Laboratories are getting a boost from artificial intelligence systems following the announcement of a collaboration between AI company OpenAI and the nation’s leading scientific research labs.
According to a Feb. 28 announcement, nine of the DoE’s National Labs participated in an event coined “1,000 Scientist AI Jam Session” with the AI research lab. The event allowed over a thousand scientist to use “frontier AI models” to test scientific problems, evaluate model responses, and share feedback to improve future AI systems that are “built with scientists’ needs in mind.”
Data collected at the event will be used to create a follow-up report on how AI models can be used by the scientific community, according to OpenAI.
The event follows the announcement of an agreement between OpenAI and the National Labs late last month to deploy an “o-series” reasoning model to “accelerate breakthroughs in materials science, renewable energy, astrophysics, and more.”
“One of our country’s greatest assets – and an envy of the world – is the Department of Energy’s network of national laboratories, which for decades have driven breakthroughs in science and technology, strengthened national security, and fueled American prosperity,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “Today’s collaboration of America’s national labs and technology companies is an important step in our efforts to secure America’s future.”
Around 15,000 scientists work in the National Labs to research a wide range of scientific inquiries, including nuclear security – which OpenAI has said it is supporting with its systems through a “careful and selective review of use cases and consultations on AI safety.”
Other AI use cases are helping to accelerate scientific discovery, revolutionize disease treatment and prevention, and bolster cybersecurity, including safeguarding the national power grid, according to OpenAI.
Under an agreement with the National Labs, OpenAI is working with Microsoft and is deploying an NVIDIA supercomputer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to “drive scientific breakthroughs in materials science, renewable energy, astrophysics, and more.”
“Advancing scientific research is one of the most promising applications of AI,” Greg Brockman, co-founder and president of OpenAI, said in a statement. “We’re proud to work with the U.S. national labs to put our advanced technology into the hands of our country’s top scientists.”
