Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.V. – chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee – and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, introduced a bipartisan bill this week that aims to advance the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies at the Department of Energy (DoE).
The 31-page Department of Energy AI Act aims to harness the agency’s existing National Laboratories infrastructure and workforce to bolster American leadership in AI.
“The DOE and its network of National Laboratories are ready and able to bring our nation to the next level of scientific discovery and global competitiveness through the innovation of safe and responsible AI,” Sen. Manchin said in a July 10 press release. “This bipartisan legislation will leverage the agency’s existing world-class laboratory test facilities, scientific workforce, and advanced computing resources to strengthen our country’s AI capabilities to remain the superpower of the world in energy, national security, and economic competitiveness.”
He added, “Deploying our existing lab infrastructure and scientific expertise for AI instead of starting from scratch will also safeguard taxpayer dollars and allow for us to move quickly.”
The senators noted that the DoE oversees 17 National Laboratories and 35 user facilities and houses a workforce of over 70,000 scientists, engineers, and researchers with “world-leading scientific expertise.”
The Department of Energy AI Act would give the Federal agency a laundry list of to-do items, including establishing a network of “AI research clusters” built at eight of its National Labs.
DoE also would be tasked with building a research and development program as well as establishing an AI risk evaluation and mitigation program. Leadership would need to develop a strategic plan with specific goals to advance AI and bolster the workforce.
The bill also calls for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to “require public utility transmission providers to share and employ, as appropriate, queue management best practices with respect to the use of computing technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automation, in evaluating and processing interconnection requests, in order to expedite study results.”
It also directs the DoE to assess the growth of computing data centers and advanced computing electrical power load.
“Dating back to the Manhattan Project, the DOE’s National Labs have been at the forefront of scientific advances and national security matters and over the past decade, the agency has developed thousands of AI applications, ranging from medical imaging and genomics to electric grid management and nuclear security,” the senators said. “As a result, the DOE has the computing resources, expertise, and experience managing large volumes of data, which is required for heading our country’s artificial intelligence strategy.”
