DOE’s Under Secretary for Science Visits PNNL, Highlights Lab’s Role in AI-Driven Discovery

The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Under Secretary for Science Darío Gil recently paid his first visit to DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), where he highlighted the critical role that PNNL plays in DOE’s mission to advance artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.

These advancements will accelerate scientific discovery, aid in developing grid control and energy storage technologies for affordable and secure electricity, and strengthen national security through world-class expertise in nuclear security.   

Gil specifically highlighted PNNL’s role in DOE’s Genesis Mission, an integrated ecosystem to accelerate discovery and strengthen U.S. leadership in AI-powered science.

“AI is a tool that we’re going to use to help us accelerate science. Scientific discoveries can turn into technology, which can solve problems for national security, can help create a better economy and jobs,” Gil said. “I look at the scientific capabilities that are present here and the talent here, I know the national labs are going to be central to make Genesis a success and that Genesis will be an enduring platform that will last for decades.”

PNNL’s research is indeed becoming more autonomous: Recently, DOE commissioned a first-of-its-kind autonomous laboratory that will be housed within PNNL’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and has begun operations. 

The new facility, called the Anaerobic Microbial Phenotyping Platform (known as AMP2), is the world’s largest automated system for anaerobic microbial experimentation and will be able to run a huge variety of anaerobic experiments in a short time frame. In 2024, Ginkgo Bioworks was awarded a $4.6 million contract to codesign, build, and install AMP2 in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. The facility is designed to address key challenges in microbiology and accelerate biological discovery. 

Quantum computing will also be an important part of accelerating scientific discovery, Gil said. At the Energy Sciences Center, Gil spoke with PNNL researchers who are using quantum computing as a scientific instrument that, when integrated with high-performance computing and AI, can help solve chemistry problems that are out of reach for current high-performance computing systems alone. At PNNL, AI-enabled design and verification speeds up hardware prototyping, improves reliability, and shortens the path from concept to device.

“PNNL has been a vital contributor to DOE’s mission for 60 years, bringing with it world-class innovations in chemistry, biology, computing expertise that accelerate breakthroughs in fundamental science, energy reliability, and national security,” Gil said. “Looking to the future, I’m excited to see PNNL’s contributions to the Genesis Mission AI-driven autonomous discovery in chemistry, materials science, biology, and more.”