The nation’s biggest multiprogram science and technology lab has landed East Tennessee a leading role in a Trump Administration initiative meant to help the U.S. win the AI race.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory – like the 16 other national labs – is working on the federal Genesis Mission. Carl Coe, the former chief of staff for U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright, announced the Genesis initiative publicly during a Knoxville conference in November.

AI is at the center of the mission. Federal leaders have said Genesis will use AI to answer a range of different, difficult questions.

Here are three things to know about Genesis and Oak Ridge’s role in it.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory unveils ‘Pathfinder’ quantum computer

1 of 14

From left, Gina Tourassi, Associate Laboratory Director for the Computing and Computational Science Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Jan Goetz, CEO and co-founder of IQM, Stephen Streiffer, Laboratory Director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Trey Wheeler, DOE ORNL Site Office Manager, before a ribbon cutting ceremony for the IQM quantum computer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, June 16, 2026. (Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel)

What problems does the government want the Genesis Mission to solve?

Genesis stems from an executive order President Donald Trump issued Nov. 24, days after Coe announced the effort in Knoxville. After Trump’s order was published, the White House released a list of dozens of national issues the Genesis Mission could help address.

Genesis, according to the list, could solve or address issues from cancers to critical mineral shortages to creating new tech for the growing number of data centers being built in the U.S.

Finding a way to pull together test results and theory could speed breakthroughs, especially those tied to problems with huge datasets.

Speeding nuclear deterrence using AI models is the last challenge listed in the White House document. Weapons professionals would remain responsible for exercising “high-consequence technical judgment,” according to the document. Another challenge the document names is using AI to find nuclear proliferation threats.

“Finding the root causes of chronic disease” is the first challenge provided in the list and a goal associated with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has attributed the rate of chronic disease among Americans to ultra-processed foods.

Modeling pediatric cancers and using those models to better design and carry out clinical trials is listed second, followed by getting better health outcomes for veterans.

What topics is Oak Ridge leading with Genesis?

Oak Ridge is a center for both supercomputing and AI. It also hosts the Quantum Science Center, referenced in the White House document.

That puts ORNL in a strong position to advance the Genesis Mission, according to the lab’s leaders.

“By connecting these unique facilities through a secure, AI-driven environment, DOE and its laboratories will revolutionize the research process, tackle more complex challenges and accelerate innovation,” lab director Stephen Streiffer said in a news release. “Oak Ridge National Laboratory is proud to contribute to this bold mission, leveraging the power of our next-generation exascale supercomputers.”

Why is the Genesis Mission a federal priority?

Officials from the president to Coe have said they view the Genesis Mission as a modern parallel to the Manhattan Project in significance. Like the Manhattan Project, Genesis will rely on some of the same communities as the historic push that brought the atomic bomb to the skies during World War II.

AI is key to future American success on the global stage, Trump has said.

Trump has repeatedly stressed the need for the U.S. to let AI develop. In December, the White House published a national policy framework designed to insulate the AI industry from what federal officials described as “an inconsistent and costly compliance regime.”

Mariah Franklin reports on technology and energy for Knox News. Email: mariah.franklin@knoxnews.com. Signal: mariahfranklin.01

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How ORNL uses its unrivaled power on Genesis Mission, the next Manhattan Project