OpenAI and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding collaboration on artificial intelligence and advanced computing to support scientific research across the DOE’s national laboratories.
The agreement establishes a framework for information sharing, technical coordination, and future project development under DOE initiatives such as the Genesis Mission, a federal effort to accelerate scientific discovery by combining advanced AI, high-performance computing, and government research infrastructure. While the memorandum does not authorize specific projects, it creates a pathway for follow-on agreements as collaboration areas are defined.
The partnership builds on existing work between OpenAI and DOE national laboratories, where frontier AI models have already been deployed in real research environments. According to OpenAI, those efforts have focused on applying advanced reasoning models to complex scientific challenges, ranging from biosciences to national security-related research.
As part of the collaboration, OpenAI has supported initiatives such as the “1,000 Scientist AI Jam Session,” which brought together researchers from nine national labs to test AI systems on domain-specific problems and provide structured feedback. The company has also deployed advanced AI models on the Venado supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, enabling shared access for researchers across the National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory system.
The agreement also emphasizes evaluation and safety. OpenAI and Los Alamos National Laboratory have jointly developed methods to assess how multimodal AI systems perform in laboratory settings, particularly in high-consequence scientific domains. These evaluations are designed to measure real-world impact while maintaining oversight and risk mitigation.
The collaboration reflects a broader federal interest in strengthening U.S. leadership in science, AI, and advanced computing. OpenAI recently submitted recommendations to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy outlining how expanded access to frontier AI models and computing resources could accelerate research and innovation.
Both OpenAI and DOE have framed the partnership as a way to integrate AI into scientific workflows responsibly, pairing advanced models with established research tools and expert oversight. Officials say the goal is not to replace scientific judgment, but to help researchers explore ideas more quickly, test hypotheses at greater scale, and move from discovery to application more efficiently.
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