FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency are set to announce a bevy of new actions Tuesday afternoon that will "unleash" coal energy following President Donald Trump's expected signature on an executive order reinvigorating "America's beautiful clean coal industry," Fox News Digital learned. "The American people need more energy, and the Department of Energy is helping to meet this demand by unleashing supply of affordable, reliable, secure energy sources -- including coal," Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a Tuesday statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Coal is essential for generating 24/7 electricity generation that powers American homes and businesses, but misguided policies from previous administrations have stifled this critical American industry," he said. "With President Trump's leadership, we are cutting the red tape and bringing back common sense." Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday afternoon that will cut through red tape surrounding the coal industry, including directing the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a "mineral," end a current pause to coal leasing on federal lands, promote coal and coal technology exports, and encourage the use of coal to power artificial intelligence initiatives, Fox News Digital learned of the upcoming executive order.

The Trump administration has released a sweeping strategy outlining steps the executive branch can take to promote and protect the country's competitive advantage on emerging technologies. The White House issued its National Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technologies on Thursday, setting out policy goals for fields that include artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and military and space technologies. The strategy doesn't set specific measures like some of President Donald Trump's executive orders focused on AI and quantum science, but senior administration officials told reporters the strategy signals a new level of coordination among agencies. Priority actions in the strategy include increasing the priority of federal R&D in annual appropriations, accelerating the adoption of emerging technology within agencies and recruiting a workforce with in-demand science and technology skills. Insight by Micro Focus Government Solutions: Learn how NGA is working with artificial intelligence, the adoption of zero trust and how the agency keeps its employees safe from cyber threats in this free webinar.

The National Science Foundation and other federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $140 million in seven institutes focused on AI, while the Energy Department will supervise and invest $625 million in the five institutes focused on quantum information sciences, which includes quantum computing. The DOE's investment will be matched by $300 million in private contributions, part of which comes in the form of technology-services donations from International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., and other companies. The news comes on the heels of the Trump administration's proposal to spend about 30% more in the 2021 nondefense budget for artificial intelligence and quantum information science. It also coincides with competitive pressure from China and other countries that are investing in these emerging technologies. China is adopting AI at a faster rate than the U.S. and the European Union, according to a 2019 report released by the Center for Data Innovation, a nonpartisan research institute.

The U.S. Department of Energy and Microsoft on Tuesday announced a partnership to develop artificial-intelligence tools aimed at helping first-responders better react to fast-changing natural events, such as floods and wildfires. From a report: "There are just so many technologies where we can solve some of the toughest problems, in a moment where we're having an explosion of wildfires and floods and some really major natural disasters," said Cheryl Ingstad, director of the Energy Department's Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office. "And we think we can bring AI to bear here and help save lives." The First Five Consortium, a nod to the importance of the first five minutes in responding to a natural disaster, aims to build between 10 and 30 different AI-powered systems. Microsoft will provide technological resources, including its Azure cloud for AI model training and inference.

The First Five Consortium, a nod to the importance of the first five minutes in responding to a natural disaster, aims to build between 10 and 30 different AI-powered systems. Microsoft will provide technological resources, including its Azure cloud for AI model training and inference. Other organizations, including public- and private-sector entities, are expected to participate. The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. The announcement comes as California confronts another summer of raging wildfires, while Iowa reels from devastating windstorms.

Artificial intelligence is proving to be an integral part of the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and may also aid in battling future pandemics, according to researchers from a high-profile AI commission. "The early months of the pandemic response suggest that technology -- some of it underpinned by artificial intelligence -- offers powerful potential for detecting and containing the virus, driving biomedical innovation -- including for vaccines and therapeutics -- and improving response and recovery," said a new white paper by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The panel -- which was established by the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act -- was tasked by Congress to research ways to advance the development of AI for defense purposes. In the report titled, "The Role of AI Technology in Pandemic Response and Preparedness: Recommended Investments and Initiatives," the authors called for a number of focused spending efforts and projects that could help the United States capitalize on AI capabilities during pandemics, as well as maintain military readiness. Already, the Pentagon has a number of initiatives examining such tools.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is joining forces with two other research powerhouses to pioneer a new $5.5 million research center created by the U.S. Department of Energy to focus on the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence. The Center for Artificial Intelligence-Focused Architectures and Algorithms, or ARIAA, will promote collaborative projects for scientists at PNNL in Richland, Wash., at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, and at Georgia Tech. PNNL and Sandia are part of the Energy Department's network of research labs. ARIAA will be headed by Roberto Gioiosa, a senior research scientist at PNNL. As center director, he'll be in charge of ARIAA's overall vision, strategy and research direction.

The Department of Energy and the Weill Family Foundation on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding for a new public-private partnership which will use the agency's artificial intelligence capabilities for biomedical research. Former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill and Energy Secretary Rick Perry told CNBC's "Closing Bell" in an exclusive interview that the partnership aims to improve the diagnosis of brain diseases and neurological disorders, which would result in more effective treatment. "As one looks at science and the development of new science, especially AI and computing, you really need to have partners to make things work." "It's too expensive for anybody to try to do it by themselves." The partnership between the federal government and the Weill Family Foundation, involves Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley and Argonne National laboratories, and was announced during a roundtable on DOE-fueled artificial intelligence at Lawrence Livermore Lab in Livermore, California.