Governments bet on AI for science
How are governments organising and funding AI-driven research, and what are labs delivering alongside them?
The US built the Genesis Mission on its AI Action Plan, and the UK set a smaller AI for Science line. Public forecasters already run AI in production. Frontier labs are running their own discovery programmes, which raise biosecurity questions.
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- White House announces $2.4bn in industry AI pledges for the Genesis Mission
Industry adds $2.4bn in pledges to the Genesis Mission.
- Google DeepMind publishes SynthID Bio watermarking for AI-designed proteins in Nature
Watermarking AI-designed proteins as a biosecurity safeguard.
- Anthropic says Claude agents found a new CRISPR-like enzyme system in phage DNA
A private lab runs agentic discovery with its own wet lab.
- White House commits $5bn+ to Genesis Mission and selects 278 AI-for-science projects
Genesis gets $5bn+, 278 projects and industry partners.
- Trump executive order launches Genesis Mission for AI-driven science at DOE
Executive order makes AI for science a DOE-led national mission.
- UK publishes AI for Science Strategy with 15 actions and up to £137m
UK sets 15 actions and up to £137m for AI-driven science.
- Rule, In forceUSAI Action Plan
The US plan calls for investment in AI-enabled science and automated labs.
- ECMWF puts its machine-learning weather model AIFS into operational use
An intergovernmental body puts an open AI weather model into operation.
- Rule, In forceUKAI Opportunities Action Plan
The UK’s overarching AI plan that funds its science strategy.
- NSF launches the National AI Research Resource pilot with 10 agencies and 25 partners
The US opens a pilot of shared federal and donated computing for researchers in 2024.
Related developments
Connected developments not on this line
- DevelopmentAI-designed bacteriophages kill E. coli strains resistant to a natural phage6 Aug 2026, Research, United States
- DevelopmentWhite House publishes America’s AI Action Plan and three executive orders23 Jul 2025, Policy, United States
- DevelopmentUS executive order makes AI literacy a K-12 and workforce priority23 Apr 2025, Policy, United States
- DevelopmentDeepMind’s GenCast beats ECMWF’s ensemble forecast on 97.2% of targets4 Dec 2024, Research, United Kingdom, International
- DevelopmentDeepMind’s AlphaProteo designs protein binders for seven targets including VEGF-A5 Sep 2024, Research, United Kingdom
- DevelopmentECMWF launches the alpha version of its own AI forecasting system13 Oct 2023, Launch, International, European Union