Trump administration launches $5B AI initiative aimed at advancing science
The Trump administration has a new $5 billion initiative dedicated to using artificial intelligence to advance science. It's part of what the administration calls a new "golden age of science."
Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Trump administration is pursuing what it calls a new golden age of science. At the heart of it is a $5 billion artificial intelligence initiative. President Trump's chief science and technology adviser, Michael Kratsios, introduced the plan to lawmakers at a hearing on Capitol Hill. It's called the Genesis Mission.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHAEL KRATSIOS: The Genesis Mission will be the central hub for the entire federal government to revolutionize the conduct of American science with AI.
MARTIN: Science correspondent Katia Riddle has more.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Funding has been a roller coaster for scientist Farren Isaacs recently. Earlier this year, he received this notice about a federal grant he was trying to renew.
FARREN ISAACS: We were told abruptly in January that that's not going to go forward and that program is ending.
RIDDLE: Isaacs is a synthetic biologist and genome engineer at Yale. He wasn't alone in getting his funding canceled. The Trump administration has terminated or frozen thousands of grants that it says did not align with their priorities. But Isaacs did find a promising new opportunity for federal funding - the Genesis Mission, focused on artificial intelligence.
ISAACS: I'm fortunate because the nature of the research in my lab is one that's already actually developing AI algorithms for the design of synthetic genomes.
RIDDLE: Those AI-designed genomes could be used to develop new medicines or improve agriculture or industrial biotechnology.
ISAACS: I basically viewed the Genesis Mission as an opportunity to basically write a focused proposal on that.
RIDDLE: Isaacs' work is one of nearly 300 research efforts that were funded under this new program. The projects use AI to accelerate research in fields ranging from biotechnology to nuclear energy. It's all part of the vision laid out by the Trump administration. Again, here's White House science adviser Michael Kratsios.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRATSIOS: A main motivation in promoting American AI development is a belief that these tools can rapidly accelerate the progress of our scientific enterprise and so open a new frontier for American knowledge, industry and quality of life.
RIDDLE: In his testimony, Kratsios compared this effort to another golden age of science in the United States - the period right after World War II. A visionary adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt named Vannevar Bush called for expanding investments in science. He helped lay the groundwork for today's ongoing research enterprise in the U.S.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRATSIOS: Our moment calls for renewal of Bush's original intentions - to use the best tools, organizational theories and systems thinking at our disposal to ensure that taxpayer-supported science produces the largest returns possible for the benefit of all Americans.
RIDDLE: But some historians see key differences between this narrow new initiative and the first, expansive golden age of science envisioned by Roosevelt and Bush. Patrick McCray is a historian of science at University of California, Santa Barbara.
PATRICK MCCRAY: I was looking over, like, the two letters that Roosevelt sent and the one that Trump sent.
RIDDLE: He compared the correspondence between the two presidents and their science advisers then and now.
MCCRAY: There's not a whole lot about explicitly, we want to have war against disease, like FDR said - we want to increase life expectancy.
RIDDLE: Toward the end of World War II, says McCray, America was in a generous mood. The postwar vision emphasized using science to improve health and well-being at home and abroad. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy did not respond to requests for comment on this story. But McCray says the language the administration uses in today's initiative puts much more emphasis on getting ahead.
MCCRAY: It's fundamentally economic. It's economic competitiveness.
RIDDLE: McCray says the research that the Genesis Mission is funding is worthwhile. But he points out the vision leaves out large areas of the scientific enterprise, including much of the social sciences. He points out that artificial intelligence is referenced more than 100 times in the administration's golden-age report.
MCCRAY: You know what word doesn't appear in that whole entire report? Climate. Not a single mention.
RIDDLE: McCray says golden age of science isn't the right term for the administration's effort. He calls it more a golden age of profit.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
The Trump administration has a new $5 billion initiative dedicated to using artificial intelligence to advance science. It's part of what the administration calls a new "golden…
This lens runs the verified story through Cinnamon's AI — wired in the next step.
The Trump administration has a new $5 billion initiative dedicated to using artificial intelligence to advance science. It's part of what the administration calls a new "golden age of science."
Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Trump administration is pursuing what it calls a new golden age of science. At the heart of it is a $5 billion artificial intelligence initiative. President Trump's chief science and technology adviser, Michael Kratsios, introduced the plan to lawmakers at a hearing on Capitol Hill. It's called the Genesis Mission.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHAEL KRATSIOS: The Genesis Mission will be the central hub for the entire federal government to revolutionize the conduct of American science with AI.
MARTIN: Science correspondent Katia Riddle has more.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Funding has been a roller coaster for scientist Farren Isaacs recently. Earlier this year, he received this notice about a federal grant he was trying to renew.
FARREN ISAACS: We were told abruptly in January that that's not going to go forward and that program is ending.
RIDDLE: Isaacs is a synthetic biologist and genome engineer at Yale. He wasn't alone in getting his funding canceled. The Trump administration has terminated or frozen thousands of grants that it says did not align with their priorities. But Isaacs did find a promising new opportunity for federal funding - the Genesis Mission, focused on artificial intelligence.
ISAACS: I'm fortunate because the nature of the research in my lab is one that's already actually developing AI algorithms for the design of synthetic genomes.
RIDDLE: Those AI-designed genomes could be used to develop new medicines or improve agriculture or industrial biotechnology.
ISAACS: I basically viewed the Genesis Mission as an opportunity to basically write a focused proposal on that.
RIDDLE: Isaacs' work is one of nearly 300 research efforts that were funded under this new program. The projects use AI to accelerate research in fields ranging from biotechnology to nuclear energy. It's all part of the vision laid out by the Trump administration. Again, here's White House science adviser Michael Kratsios.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRATSIOS: A main motivation in promoting American AI development is a belief that these tools can rapidly accelerate the progress of our scientific enterprise and so open a new frontier for American knowledge, industry and quality of life.
RIDDLE: In his testimony, Kratsios compared this effort to another golden age of science in the United States - the period right after World War II. A visionary adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt named Vannevar Bush called for expanding investments in science. He helped lay the groundwork for today's ongoing research enterprise in the U.S.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRATSIOS: Our moment calls for renewal of Bush's original intentions - to use the best tools, organizational theories and systems thinking at our disposal to ensure that taxpayer-supported science produces the largest returns possible for the benefit of all Americans.
RIDDLE: But some historians see key differences between this narrow new initiative and the first, expansive golden age of science envisioned by Roosevelt and Bush. Patrick McCray is a historian of science at University of California, Santa Barbara.
PATRICK MCCRAY: I was looking over, like, the two letters that Roosevelt sent and the one that Trump sent.
RIDDLE: He compared the correspondence between the two presidents and their science advisers then and now.
MCCRAY: There's not a whole lot about explicitly, we want to have war against disease, like FDR said - we want to increase life expectancy.
RIDDLE: Toward the end of World War II, says McCray, America was in a generous mood. The postwar vision emphasized using science to improve health and well-being at home and abroad. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy did not respond to requests for comment on this story. But McCray says the language the administration uses in today's initiative puts much more emphasis on getting ahead.
MCCRAY: It's fundamentally economic. It's economic competitiveness.
RIDDLE: McCray says the research that the Genesis Mission is funding is worthwhile. But he points out the vision leaves out large areas of the scientific enterprise, including much of the social sciences. He points out that artificial intelligence is referenced more than 100 times in the administration's golden-age report.
MCCRAY: You know what word doesn't appear in that whole entire report? Climate. Not a single mention.
RIDDLE: McCray says golden age of science isn't the right term for the administration's effort. He calls it more a golden age of profit.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
The Trump administration has a new $5 billion initiative dedicated to using artificial intelligence to advance science. It's part of what the administration calls a new "golden age of science."
Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Trump administration is pursuing what it calls a new golden age of science. At the heart of it is a $5 billion artificial intelligence initiative. President Trump's chief science and technology adviser, Michael Kratsios, introduced the plan to lawmakers at a hearing on Capitol Hill. It's called the Genesis Mission.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MICHAEL KRATSIOS: The Genesis Mission will be the central hub for the entire federal government to revolutionize the conduct of American science with AI.
MARTIN: Science correspondent Katia Riddle has more.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Funding has been a roller coaster for scientist Farren Isaacs recently. Earlier this year, he received this notice about a federal grant he was trying to renew.
FARREN ISAACS: We were told abruptly in January that that's not going to go forward and that program is ending.
RIDDLE: Isaacs is a synthetic biologist and genome engineer at Yale. He wasn't alone in getting his funding canceled. The Trump administration has terminated or frozen thousands of grants that it says did not align with their priorities. But Isaacs did find a promising new opportunity for federal funding - the Genesis Mission, focused on artificial intelligence.
ISAACS: I'm fortunate because the nature of the research in my lab is one that's already actually developing AI algorithms for the design of synthetic genomes.
RIDDLE: Those AI-designed genomes could be used to develop new medicines or improve agriculture or industrial biotechnology.
ISAACS: I basically viewed the Genesis Mission as an opportunity to basically write a focused proposal on that.
RIDDLE: Isaacs' work is one of nearly 300 research efforts that were funded under this new program. The projects use AI to accelerate research in fields ranging from biotechnology to nuclear energy. It's all part of the vision laid out by the Trump administration. Again, here's White House science adviser Michael Kratsios.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRATSIOS: A main motivation in promoting American AI development is a belief that these tools can rapidly accelerate the progress of our scientific enterprise and so open a new frontier for American knowledge, industry and quality of life.
RIDDLE: In his testimony, Kratsios compared this effort to another golden age of science in the United States - the period right after World War II. A visionary adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt named Vannevar Bush called for expanding investments in science. He helped lay the groundwork for today's ongoing research enterprise in the U.S.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
KRATSIOS: Our moment calls for renewal of Bush's original intentions - to use the best tools, organizational theories and systems thinking at our disposal to ensure that taxpayer-supported science produces the largest returns possible for the benefit of all Americans.
RIDDLE: But some historians see key differences between this narrow new initiative and the first, expansive golden age of science envisioned by Roosevelt and Bush. Patrick McCray is a historian of science at University of California, Santa Barbara.
PATRICK MCCRAY: I was looking over, like, the two letters that Roosevelt sent and the one that Trump sent.
RIDDLE: He compared the correspondence between the two presidents and their science advisers then and now.
MCCRAY: There's not a whole lot about explicitly, we want to have war against disease, like FDR said - we want to increase life expectancy.
RIDDLE: Toward the end of World War II, says McCray, America was in a generous mood. The postwar vision emphasized using science to improve health and well-being at home and abroad. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy did not respond to requests for comment on this story. But McCray says the language the administration uses in today's initiative puts much more emphasis on getting ahead.
MCCRAY: It's fundamentally economic. It's economic competitiveness.
RIDDLE: McCray says the research that the Genesis Mission is funding is worthwhile. But he points out the vision leaves out large areas of the scientific enterprise, including much of the social sciences. He points out that artificial intelligence is referenced more than 100 times in the administration's golden-age report.
MCCRAY: You know what word doesn't appear in that whole entire report? Climate. Not a single mention.
RIDDLE: McCray says golden age of science isn't the right term for the administration's effort. He calls it more a golden age of profit.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
This lens runs the verified story through Cinnamon's AI — wired in the next step.
- The Trump administration has a new $5 billion initiative dedicated to using artificial intelligence to advance science.
- It's part of what the administration calls a new "golden…