The Trump administration has announced the first grants under its “Genesis Mission”, directing $5 billion towards AI-led scientific research, while setting out a broader agenda focused on artificial intelligence, robotics and nuclear energy. The article argues that this represents a major shift in US science policy, with greater political control over funding and less emphasis on life sciences, diversity-related research and traditional academic institutions.

The funding covers 278 projects chosen from more than 5,000 applications, spanning drug discovery, biomedicine, energy, materials and robotics. Led by the Department of Energy, the programme brings together national laboratories, universities and industry, with companies including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI providing computing resources and AI credits; critics cited in the article warn that prioritising rapid, measurable AI outputs could weaken slower, exploratory research.