WASHINGTON, D.C.-This week, the White House issued the first-ever National Security Memorandum (NSM) on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Recognizing that advances at the frontier of AI will have significant implications for national security and foreign policy, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) are leading work to help understand and mitigate the risks associated with AI systems, improve the performance and efficiency of AI systems, and strengthen the U.S. AI ecosystem.
“This first-ever National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence establishes that retaining U.S. leadership in the most advanced AI models will be vital for our national security and global competitiveness, while also ensuring the industry can grow rapidly, powered by clean energy investments, said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “DOE is committed, now more than ever, to harness frontier AI for our science, energy and national security mission, ensuring we have the infrastructure to power this critical technology for the years ahead.”
“We are unique among federal agencies in the way we merge science and national security missions, bringing the incredible technical power of the national lab system to bear on complex issues,” said Undersecretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby. “AI is a game-changing technology, and the government has a responsibility to evaluate its potential impacts and harness AI for nuclear and national security missions.”
The NSM directs the Department to, among other activities:
- Lead, via NNSA, the safety testing and systematic evaluations (including red teaming) of frontier AI models on behalf of the U.S. government to assess nuclear and radiological risk, and coordinate across the U.S. government on assessments of chemical, biological, and other threats;
- Provide expertise, infrastructure, and facilities to support systematic testing and evaluation of AI models and systems;
- Design and build large-scale facilities that can harness frontier AI for scientific research and intelligence analysis;
- Evaluate the performance and efficiency of federated AI and data sources for frontier AI-scale training, fine-tuning, and inferencing;
- Coordinate across the U.S. government to identify critical nodes in the AI supply chain, identify potential risks, and work to reduce such risks;
- Lead efforts to streamline permitting, approvals, and incentives for the construction of AI-enabling infrastructure; and
- Advance hiring and retention strategies to accelerate responsible AI adoption, including by identifying education and training opportunities.
The NSM builds on DOE’s longstanding leadership in AI development and DOE’s recently announced Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) initiative to help harness AI in the national interest. Through FASST, DOE and its 17 national laboratories aim to build the world’s most powerful, integrated scientific AI systems for science, national security, and energy, in collaboration with academic and industry partners.