Department of Energy plans major AI push to speed scientific discoveries

A U.S. Department of Energy initiative could refurbish existing supercomputers, turning them into high-performance artificial intelligence machines. WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is planning a major initiative to use artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up scientific discoveries. At a meeting here last week, DOE officials said they will likely ask Congress for between $3 billion and $4 billion over 10 years, roughly the amount the agency is spending to build next-generation "exascale" supercomputers. "That's a good starting point," says Earl Joseph, CEO of Hyperion Research, a high-performance computing analysis firm in St. Paul that tracks AI research funding. He notes, though, that DOE's planned spending is modest compared with the feverish investment in AI by China and industry.