OpenAI announced Thursday it is partnering with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to install its newest artificial intelligence models onto the lab’s supercomputer for national security research.
“We care a lot about AI and science, we’ve talked about this for a very long time. This is what we think will be on the most important impacts of AI long term. If we can use AI to help drive scientific progress, then I think it can drive huge forward progress for the country,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the announcement.
The partnership will allow U.S. National Laboratories to “supercharge their scientific research” with OpenAI’s latest reasoning models, OpenAI wrote in a statement to The Hill.
OpenAI’s latest o-series models will be installed onto the Lab’s Venado supercomputer, which is powered by Nvidia superchips. The machine will be moved to a secure and classified network where researchers from Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Labs will be able to utilize it, according to the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
“As threats to the nation become more complex and more pressing, we need new approaches and advanced technologies to preserve America’s security,” said Thom Mason, the laboratory director, in a statement.
“Artificial intelligence models from OpenAI will allow us to do this more successfully, while also advancing our scientific missions to solve some of the nation’s most important challenges,” he added.
The models are expected to help lab staff identify ways to treat and prevent disease, detect natural and human-made cyber and biology threats, along with the U.S.’s natural resources.
The partnership will also benefit the Laboratories’ work in nuclear security, OpenAI said.
OpenAI and Los Alamos also collaborated last summer to help assess the risks of bioweapon creation.
It comes just days after OpenAI launched a new version of its popular ChatGPT model specifically tailored to government agencies and workers. Under ChatGPT Gov, federal agencies will have access to OpenAI’s top models even when dealing with sensitive information.
