The Genesis Mission, led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is a coordinated national initiative to dramatically accelerate scientific discovery, strengthen U.S. energy leadership, and advance national security through the responsible application of artificial intelligence (AI), high‑performance computing (HPC), and world‑class scientific infrastructure.
At Microsoft, we are honored to support this mission in close partnership with the DOE and its National Laboratories. By providing secure cloud platforms, advanced AI capabilities, and scientific domain‑specific tools, Microsoft is working alongside America’s scientists and engineers to help modernize research workflows and reduce the time required to move from hypothesis to discovery.
This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to ensuring that AI serves as a force multiplier for the scientific workforce, enabling new approaches to research while maintaining the security, governance, and integrity required for mission‑critical work.
The Genesis Mission: Building an Integrated Platform for American Science
The Genesis Mission brings together the DOE’s 17 National Laboratories, advanced experimental facilities, large‑scale scientific datasets, and next‑generation computing resources into a more integrated scientific discovery platform. The goal is to double the productivity and impact of American research and innovation within the decade by embedding AI directly into the scientific process.
Achieving this vision requires trusted technology partners who understand the unique requirements of government‑led science - from secure data handling and regulatory compliance to collaboration across institutions and disciplines.
Microsoft’s work under the Genesis Mission is focused on enabling this integrated approach by delivering:
- Secure, government‑ready cloud infrastructure accredited to support workloads ranging from unclassified to Secret data and protected with industry-leading cybersecurity systems
- AI capabilities designed for scientific and engineering workflows
- Responsible AI practices aligned with federal standards
- Close collaboration with DOE scientists and laboratory experts
- Collaboration on Nuclear R&D and Permitting
- Autonomous Lab & Agentic Enablement
Microsoft has a long-standing partnership with DOE, NNSA, and the National Laboratories to accelerate national security, scientific research, nuclear capabilities, and artificial intelligence.
Here are a few existing partnerships that Microsoft expects to grow in light of the Genesis Mission:
Accelerating Materials Science Discovery with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Materials science is foundational to many of the DOE’s mission priorities, including energy storage, advanced manufacturing, and sustainability. Through our partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Microsoft is helping demonstrate how AI can transform how materials are discovered and evaluated.
Using , Microsoft and PNNL combined AI and HPC to screen more than 32 million inorganic material candidates - a task that would traditionally take many years using conventional methods. AI models rapidly narrowed this vast search space to a small set of promising materials, enabling PNNL researchers to experimentally synthesize and validate a previously unknown compound for potential battery applications.
This collaboration illustrates how AI can:
- Rapidly explore large scientific search spaces
- Prioritize the most promising candidates for laboratory validation
- Complement—not replace—the expertise of human scientists
By accelerating early‑stage discovery, this work supports the Genesis Mission’s objective to shorten scientific timelines while preserving rigorous experimental validation.
Modernizing Nuclear Energy Workflows with Idaho National Laboratory
Advanced nuclear energy is a critical component of the nation’s long‑term energy strategy, and the DOE has emphasized the need to modernize processes that support reactor development and deployment.
Microsoft is working with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to apply AI in a targeted, responsible way to streamline portions of the nuclear licensing and permitting workflow. Preparing the engineering and safety analysis documentation required for regulatory review is labor‑intensive and time‑consuming. Together, Microsoft and INL are exploring how Azure AI can assist by organizing and drafting documentation based on existing technical materials.
Importantly:
- AI is used to support document generation, not to perform safety analyses
- Human experts remain fully responsible for review, verification, and decision‑making
- The solution is designed to align with DOE and Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements
By reducing administrative burdens, this collaboration helps engineers and scientists focus more of their time on technical innovation—directly supporting the Genesis Mission’s emphasis on accelerating energy innovation while maintaining the highest standards of safety and oversight.
Secure AI Enablement for National Security Science at Sandia National Laboratories
For national security missions, AI adoption must meet stringent requirements for security, governance, and data protection.
At Sandia National Laboratories, Microsoft supported the deployment of a secure, private AI capability built on Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI. This solution enables Sandia personnel to use generative AI tools within a tightly controlled environment, ensuring that sensitive, unclassified data remains protected and isolated.
The result is a practical example of how:
- Enterprise‑grade AI can be deployed in high‑security government environments
- Scientists and staff can gain productivity benefits without compromising data protections
- Responsible AI practices can be operationalized at scale
This work aligns directly with the Genesis Mission’s focus on ensuring that AI innovation for science is secure, trustworthy, and mission‑ready.
Investing in Classified Cloud Capabilities for the Nation’s Most Sensitive Missions
Microsoft has made sustained, long-term investments in high security, classified cloud infrastructure to meet the U.S. government’s most stringent security and operational requirements.
Azure Government Secret and Azure Government Top Secret are engineered to meet U.S. government requirements for classified data handling and enable government agencies and national laboratories to adopt cloud and AI technologies for sensitive scientific, energy, and national security missions without compromising security, compliance, or mission assurance.
Azure Government classified clouds ensures that the benefits of modern cloud and AI technologies are available for the full spectrum of government missions—supporting secure collaboration, operational resilience, and trusted innovation in alignment with the Genesis Mission’s objectives. A Responsible Path Forward for AI‑Powered Science
Across materials science, nuclear energy, and national security, Microsoft’s collaborations with the DOE National Laboratories demonstrate a common approach:
- AI augments scientific expertise, rather than replacing it
- Security, compliance, and governance are foundational, not afterthoughts
- Human‑in‑the‑loop workflows remain central to decision‑making
- Cloud and AI platforms are designed to scale across institutions and domains
The Genesis Mission represents a new chapter in how the nation conducts science—one where AI is deeply integrated into research workflows to help scientists move faster, collaborate more effectively, and tackle increasingly complex challenges.
Microsoft remains committed to working with the Department of Energy and its National Laboratories to ensure that AI is applied responsibly, securely, and in service of the public mission—supporting American scientific leadership today and for decades to come.
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