National labs work to optimize AI infrastructure amid Genesis Mission

The Department of Energy’s national labs are laying the groundwork for beefed-up AI infrastructure as the agency continues to advance Genesis Mission goals. 

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory unveiled a dedicated unit to AI infrastructure Thursday, called the Next Generation Data Centers Institute. The internal group will serve as a hub for collaboration across national laboratories, industry, utilities and state stakeholders, focusing on thermal management, systems architecture, grid integration, load management, supply chain resiliency and cyber-informed engineering. The institute will also assess impacts of AI infrastructure on a number of factors and will use the lab’s digital twin environments as a testbed to validate performance before scaling. 

Last week, the DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory began the process of building better data centers by issuing a request for information to gather industry insights on the design, construction and operation of a high-performance data center optimized for AI. The RFI is meant to inform future procurement strategies and technical requirements. Respondents are requested to share trade-offs between data center buildout options, as well as challenges that can arise for different cooling methods.  

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