Microsoft commits $60M to Genesis Mission, powering DOE's AI-for-science push across national labs

Microsoft commits $60M to 'Genesis Mission' to help power Dept. of Energy's AI-for-science push

Microsoft is putting $60 million behind the U.S. Department of Energy's Genesis Mission, a push to use artificial intelligence to speed up scientific research across the government's 17 national labs. The company's investment is split into two pieces: $40 million in Azure cloud computing and AI credits over three years, and $20 million for engineering and deployment help to get DOE researchers actually using the tools, Microsoft said in a blog post Wednesday. Microsoft is also launching a new internal group called SPARK -- Scientific Partnership Advancing Research & Knowledge -- to serve as the single point of contact between the company and DOE on Genesis Mission work. It's meant to combine Microsoft's program management, engineering, security and research teams into one coordinated effort, instead of leaving individual labs to navigate Microsoft on their own. President Trump created the Genesis Mission through an executive order in November 2025, directing DOE to build a unified computing and data platform -- since named the American Science and Security Platform -- that connects the national labs' supercomputers, AI tools and scientific datasets. The order likened the effort's urgency and ambition to the Manhattan Project, and the White House said it's expanded into a whole-of-government initiative involving more than 15 federal agencies, backed by more than $5 billion in commitments. Microsoft named four initial projects taking shape under the partnership, including work with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., to speed up the discovery of new energy storage materials -- cutting analysis that used to take years down to weeks -- and autonomous lab work with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory aimed at detecting biological threats earlier. "We move faster together," Chris Barry, president of Microsoft's U.S. Public Sector business, wrote in the blog post announcing the commitment, framing the investment as both a "national security imperative" and economic opportunity for the U.S. Microsoft isn't the only Seattle-area cloud giant courting the Genesis Mission. Amazon Web Services was recognized by DOE as a Genesis Mission supporter in December, highlighting its work with Idaho National Laboratory on AI tools for nuclear reactor design, and the company launched its own Genesis Accelerator Initiative in February, offering up to $50 million in cloud credits for DOE-related research over three years.

Microsoft set to invest $60M in Energy Department's Genesis Mission

Microsoft is set to invest $60 million into the Department of Energy's (DOE) Genesis Mission, which focuses on accelerating scientific discovery and technological leadership through artificial intelligence (AI). The company's investment will put $40 million towards Azure cloud and AI computing credits over three years to "support large-scale AI and scientific workloads" while $20 million is set aside to help translate cloud and AI capacity into scientific outcomes, according to its blog post. "We are entering an era where AI and quantum don't just support the scientific process, they are essential to it," Chris Barry, Microsoft's president of U.S. Public Sector Industries, said in a statement. Microsoft will also support DOE's Genesis Mission through the new coordination hub FOR scientific discovery named the "Scientific Partnership Advancing Research & Knowledge SPARK. The first four SPARK projects will take place at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, with a focus on critical minerals and materials, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will helm efforts to strengthen biosecurity, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory will have autonomous labs for accelerated materials discovery and Idaho National Laboratory is accelerating nuclear energy permitting and autonomous energy operations, according to the blog post. Microsoft's efforts expand on DOE partnerships with major tech companies, academic institutions, and AI startups such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and Nvidia for the Genesis Mission. Each entity is set to help pool expertise, computing power and models. DOE has 40,000 scientists, engineers, and technical staff, alongside those in the private sector working on the Genesis Mission. The initiative is intended to connect DOE's 17 National Laboratories, supercomputers and experimental facilities into a unified digital environment. Last November, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Genesis Mission will "ensure" that America is the "global leader" in AI as lawmakers raise concerns about falling behind to China.