President Trump Launches “Genesis Mission,” a Manhattan-Project-Scale AI Initiative

In a sweeping new Executive Order issued November 24, President Donald J. Trump announced the creation of the “Genesis Mission,” a national AI-driven scientific initiative that the White House is calling one of the most ambitious research efforts in American history.

Framed as a modern counterpart to the Manhattan Project, the Genesis Mission aims to unite the Federal Government’s massive scientific datasets, AI research infrastructure, national laboratories, universities, and private-sector innovators into a single, integrated research engine capable of dramatically accelerating scientific discovery and strengthening U.S. national security.

According to the order, the Mission’s goal is nothing less than the creation of an AI-powered national science platform that can test new hypotheses, automate complex research workflows, and drive breakthroughs in fields ranging from nuclear energy and biotechnology to semiconductors, quantum science, and advanced manufacturing.

“America is in a race for global technology dominance,” the President wrote. “The challenges we face require a historic national effort.”

A Unified AI Platform to Harness America’s Scientific Power

At the center of the initiative is a new system called the American Science and Security Platform—a secure national AI infrastructure run through the Department of Energy (DOE). It will combine:

• National laboratory supercomputers

• Secure cloud-based AI computing environments

• Scientific foundation models

• Advanced predictive simulations

• Robotics-enabled laboratories

• Massive federal datasets, curated over decades

The goal is to enable AI systems to independently run scientific experiments, analyze data, design new materials, test energy systems, and guide research across dozens of high-impact domains.

DOE will lead the Mission’s operations, while the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (APST) will coordinate efforts across all participating agencies.

A National List of “Highest-Priority Challenges”

Within 60 days, DOE must produce a list of at least 20 national science and technology challenges that AI research under the Genesis Mission will target. These include fields the Administration has identified as critical to U.S. competitiveness:

• Biotechnology

• Critical minerals

• Nuclear fusion and fission

• Quantum information science

• Semiconductors and microelectronics

• Advanced manufacturing

After review by the National Science and Technology Council, agencies across the Federal Government will use the new AI platform to accelerate research aligned with those challenges.

Annual updates will track national progress and recalibrate priorities as needed.

Massive Interagency Coordination—and New Opportunities for Researchers

The order directs agencies to align their AI programs, data assets, and R&D investments with the Genesis Mission. It also creates new opportunities for:

• Private-sector participation, including cooperative R&D agreements

• University collaboration, particularly in high-performance computing and AI-enabled science

• Research fellowships and internships placing students at DOE labs

• International scientific partnerships, subject to national-security safeguards

Private companies offering advanced computing, semiconductors, robotics, or data infrastructure are expected to play a major role in shaping the Mission.

Security at the Center

Because the Platform will handle sensitive national-security-relevant datasets, the order mandates stringent protections:

• Federal cybersecurity standards

• Classification and export-control safeguards

• Supply-chain screening

• Vetting of all external collaborators

• Strict data-access and data-management rules

The White House describes the system as a core component of America’s technological resilience in an era of global AI competition.

Annual Reports to Track Progress

DOE must report each year to the President, the APST, and the Office of Management and Budget, detailing:

• Platform capabilities and upgrades

• Scientific breakthroughs

• Integration across Federal laboratories

• Public-private research outcomes

• Commercialization pathways

• Workforce development impacts

These reports will measure how effectively the Genesis Mission accelerates scientific discovery and strengthens national preparedness.

A New Epoch in American Research?

If fully realized, the Genesis Mission could mark one of the largest reorganizations of U.S. scientific infrastructure in decades. By unifying Federal AI resources and national datasets into a single system, the Administration argues the nation can create a research engine capable of:

• Rapid material discovery

• Faster biomedical breakthroughs

• Advanced nuclear research

• Next-generation energy systems

• New semiconductor and microelectronics designs

• Stronger national-security technologies

Supporters see the Mission as a necessary step in maintaining American dominance in global science and technology. Critics are likely to raise questions about cost, federal overreach, data usage, and long-term AI governance.

But for now, the White House has declared that a new chapter in American scientific strategy has begun—one built around AI as a central driver of national strength.