Mission
Establish the Scientific Superintelligence (SSI) Lab to accelerate America’s scientific progress by curating datasets across our National Laboratories and leveraging them to build foundation models and self-driving laboratories to address critical scientific problems in collaboration with leading partners in academia and industry.
Advancing America’s Tradition of Scientific Excellence
Science advances when the government coordinates and funds projects of historic scope and ambition. From the Manhattan project to ARPANET, our modern world has been shaped by government support for science. Today, with the rise of artificial intelligence, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has an opportunity to accelerate progress on fundamental problems in science by fostering open datasets and building new foundation models. The DOE’s support for the Protein Data Bank, which started collecting protein structure data in 1971, enabled the rise of AlphaFold in 2021, 50 years later, Long-term government support for open science will be a crucial driver of AI progress, and the Office of Scientific Superintelligence will be the central node coordinating these initiatives across the DOE.
Initiatives
The AI and Technology Office is focused on the following foundational pillars:
- DATA AGGREGATION
- Aggregate, clean, and create access to data across the 17 National Laboratories under the DOE.
- Implement software-first data collection processes so that experiments conducted across the National Laboratory system produce streamlined data that is constantly updated and aggregated.
- FOUNDATION MODELS
- Train open source foundation models for new verticals where the DOE has unique data.
- SELF DRIVING LABS
- Explore the creation of a self-driving lab within the DOE in partnership with the National Laboratories for novel data generation.
- INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS
- Collaborate with leading AI labs to share data and co-author research.
Team
Ritankar Das
Chief Technology Officer
Ritankar recently joined the Department of Energy as the Chief Technology Officer focused on Artificial Intelligence, and is currently leading the development of the Scientific Superintelligence (SSI) Lab. He was previously the founder of Titan Holdings, where he built artificial intelligence companies focused on specific industry verticals. He dropped out of a PhD program at Cambridge University to start Titan Holdings. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed research publications and graduated from UC Berkeley at age 18 as valedictorian.
Jordan Wick
Member of Technical Staff
Jordan is a Member of Technical Staff focusing on accelerating the initiatives of the Scientific Superintelligence Lab. Previously, Jordan worked on self-driving cars as a Software Engineer at Waymo, and co-founded Intercept Technologies to bring AI to the CPG industry. Jordan graduated with a BS and MEng in Computer Science from MIT.
Jason Zhao
Member of Technical Staff
Jason is a Member of Technical Staff focusing on accelerating the initiatives of the Scientific Superintelligence Lab. Previously, Jason worked on applied reinforcement learning at DeepMind and co-founded PIP Labs, scaling it from inception to post-Series B. Jason graduated with a BA in Philosophy and MS in Computer Science from Stanford University.
Daniel Price
Senior Advisor and Principal Investigator
Daniel is a Senior Advisor and Principal Investigator focusing on how algorithmic reasoning can enhance scientific discovery and accelerate innovation across the DOE research enterprise. A technology executive and licensed Professional Engineer, Price has led companies that delivered thousands of engineering projects, including critical infrastructure initiatives of national significance. A Rhodes Scholar, Price earned his graduate degrees at the University of Oxford and has presented widely on the use of AI and frontier technologies to advance the design and operation of complex systems.
Contact Us
The Office of Placeholder
Office of the Assistant Secretary
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Mail Stop EE-1
Department of Energy
Washington, DC 20585