Deepening our collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy

Deepening our collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy

Scientific progress shapes everything from health and energy to national security and our understanding of the universe. If AI can help researchers explore more ideas, test hypotheses faster, and move from insight to validated results more quickly, the benefits compound-across disciplines and across society.

OpenAI and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to deepen our collaboration on AI and advanced computing in support of DOE initiatives, including the Genesis Mission. This work is part of OpenAI for Science⁠ , our effort to help scientists accelerate discovery by pairing frontier AI models with the tools, workflows, and expertise of real research environments.

This MOU builds on OpenAI's existing work with DOE's national laboratories, where we've already deployed frontier models in real research environments and worked directly with scientists on high-impact problems.

The Genesis Mission⁠ (opens in a new window)brings together government, national labs, and industry to apply advanced AI and computing to accelerate scientific discovery. The MOU establishes a framework for information sharing and coordination, and creates a path for the parties to discuss and develop potential follow-on agreements as specific projects take shape. Today, OpenAI also submitted detailed recommendations⁠ (opens in a new window)to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on how the United States can strengthen science and technology leadership through AI. That filing outlines why we see 2026 as a "Year of Science" and why access to frontier AI models, compute, and real research environments is essential to accelerating discovery. The agreement with the Department of Energy reflects that vision moving into practice.

This announcement follows today's Genesis Mission event at the White House, where Kevin Weil, Vice President of OpenAI for Science, joined DOE and other partners.

A shared commitment to accelerate discovery

OpenAI and the Department of Energy share a focus on advancing basic and applied research and strengthening U.S. leadership in AI and advanced computing. This memorandum of understanding provides a structured way for OpenAI and DOE to exchange technical expertise, coordinate activities, and explore areas of collaboration-such as fusion energy, where DOE labs bring world-leading facilities, modeling tools, and data-while ensuring that future project work is clearly scoped and governed through follow-on agreements.

For OpenAI, this reflects how we think about building OpenAI for Science. Progress comes from working side-by-side with researchers to understand where AI meaningfully helps, where it falls short, and how it can be safely integrated into real scientific workflows. That work depends on close engagement with domain experts, access to world-class scientific infrastructure, and rigorous evaluation in the environments where science actually happens. The MOU creates space for that kind of collaboration, while preserving the rigor and accountability required for responsible scientific use.

Building on a growing partnership with DOE's national laboratories

Over the past year, we've been working closely with scientists across the DOE national lab system to understand where frontier models help, where they fall short, and what it takes to integrate them into real research settings.

Putting frontier models in the hands of scientists

Together with DOE's national labs, we convened the 1,000 Scientist AI Jam Session⁠ -a first-of-its-kind event across nine labs where more than 1,000 scientists used frontier AI models to test domain-specific problems, evaluate model responses, and provide structured feedback to inform future system development. This model of collaboration allows researchers to stress-test AI on the problems that matter in their work, and help shape how these tools evolve.

Deploying frontier models on national lab supercomputers

We partner with theNational Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) laboratories⁠ , including Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories, to support scientific and technical research. As part of this work, OpenAI has deployed advanced reasoning models on the Venado supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where it serves as a shared resource for researchers across the NNSA labs. This collaboration focuses on applying frontier AI models in high-performance computing environments to support complex scientific and national research challenges.

Measuring bioscience capabilities in realistic settings

We also partnered with Los Alamos National Laboratory⁠ to develop evaluations that study how multimodal AI systems can be used safely by scientists in laboratory settings. That work is designed to move beyond purely text-based assessments and toward more realistic measurements of how models may influence outcomes in high-consequence domains, grounded in expert oversight, careful study design, and a clear commitment to risk reduction.

How OpenAI for Science fits into this partnership

Our goal with OpenAI for Science is to accelerate science: to help researchers explore more ideas, test hypotheses faster, and uncover insights that would otherwise take significant time. We approach that goal with two complementary beliefs:

• Scientific tools matter.Simulation engines, analysis pipelines, domain databases, and high-performance computing are essential for precision and throughput.
• Frontier reasoning matters.As models scale and improve, they can increasingly support conceptual work, connecting ideas across fields, navigating large literatures beyond keyword search, proposing mechanisms, and stress-testing hypotheses.

DOE's national labs are uniquely positioned at the intersection of these two beliefs: they operate some of the world's most sophisticated scientific infrastructure and convene experts working on problems where better reasoning and better computing can translate directly into scientific advancement and societal benefit.

What's next

Scientific discovery has always advanced fastest when great tools meet great scientists. We believe frontier AI-developed in close partnership with the scientific community-can become a new kind of scientific instrument: one that expands what researchers can explore, improves the speed of iteration, and helps translate insight into impact. We're proud to work alongside DOE and the national labs as we build toward that future.

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