Federal Pulse
AI and the Trump Administration
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a central pillar of U.S. federal research strategy and that shift is reshaping what scientific discovery looks like, how agencies fund work, and how institutions need to position themselves and navigate policies and regulations relating to AI. The Trump Administration is making AI competitiveness a top national priority while AI is also a focus of state policymaking, which has the potential to create a tricky regulatory and compliance environment for research organizations to navigate.
Overview of Trump Administration AI Priorities
Right out of the gate in January 2025, President Trump issued an executive order Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. That order required the creation of a national AI action plan which the Administration published in July 2025, entitled Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan. A new National AI Research and Development (R&D) Strategic Plan is under development, with the Administration accepting public comments on the previous plan earlier this year. The Administration also maintains the website https://www.ai.gov/.
An important step to advance the President’s AI agenda occurred in November 2025 when the White House launched the Genesis Mission, a sweeping, cross-agency and cross-sector effort to integrate advanced AI systems, quantum technologies, world-leading supercomputers, and scientific instruments across the national research enterprise. The initiative frames AI not as a standalone topic but as a foundational research platform across disciplines, including materials science, biomedical research, climate modeling, energy technologies, and defense innovation. The Administration is comparing Genesis to the Apollo Mission and the Manhattan Project in terms of its anticipated scope and significance to U.S. scientific and global leadership.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is charged with leading the Genesis Mission. Following President Trump’s launch of the Genesis Mission, DOE Under Secretary for Science and Genesis Mission Director Dario Gil released a letter outlining his strategy for integrating AI into national laboratory, industry, and academic research. Gil emphasizes that scientific progress now depends on the co-design of AI systems, high-performance computing, quantum tools, and large-scale experimental facilities. This includes embedding AI directly into research workflows to optimize experiments, accelerate simulations, enable autonomous discovery, and improve facility operations. The timeline Gil provides is “to double the productivity and impact of American science and engineering within a decade (and in half that time across our National Laboratory complex).”
AI is becoming central not only at DOE but also at NSF, NIH, DOD, and other agencies. The White House R&D priorities for FY2027 include AI as a directive to all federal research agencies. NSF has begun framing itself as the nation’s “workforce engine” for defense-related emerging technologies including AI. DOD included AI in its streamlined list of six critical technology areas published last month. The NIH has a list of programs featuring AI.
Relevance to Research Administrators
Despite the Trump Administration’s vigorous activity around AI, it is unclear how the federal government will fund its emphasis on AI. These new policies and realignment of priorities generally do not come with additional funding for the federal agencies; indeed, the Trump Administration is effectively instituting funding cuts at the majority of federal research agencies. It is unclear how the Genesis Mission will be implemented, especially at the scale of the Apollo Mission or Manhattan Project and especially on the ambitious timeline laid out by Under Secretary Gil, without a significant new infusion of funds to the Genesis Mission or a sizable diversion of funds from existing DOE programs. Similarly, the AI-related programs and priorities taking shape across the federal research enterprise do not come with new money and therefore are likely to be realized by realigning existing funds.
As AI becomes embedded in federal research strategies, research administrators should prepare for more complex compliance environments. The President’s AI Action Plan as well as the Genesis Mission include policy directives affecting research administration. For example, the AI Action Plan recommends that federal funders “consider a state’s AI regulatory climate when making funding decisions and limit funding if the state’s AI regulatory regimes may hinder the effectiveness of that funding or award.” While agencies have not yet implemented the policy recommendations from the Action Plan, they could plausibly be advanced by the Administration.
The executive action that launched the Genesis Mission requires that DOE develop a number of policies and procedures that will apply to non-Federal partners including: standardized partnership agreements and intellectual property agreements, uniform and stringent data access and management processes and cybersecurity standards, and enhanced vetting standards for partners who would participate in research using Federal resources.
The NIH has launched a website that pulls together existing NIH policies and guidance that are especially relevant to AI in research, although they note “While AI may not be explicitly mentioned, NIH’s policy framework is designed to responsibly guide and govern advancing science and emerging technologies, including development and use of AI technologies in research.” Research administrators should carefully consider how existing agency policies apply to emerging technology applications in the research enterprise.
Finally, many of the Administration’s AI initiatives involve creating seamless partnerships between the federal government, industry, academia, and/or philanthropy. Research administrators should expect to see more of these arrangements required by federal funders for AI projects.
Institutions that proactively assess their AI readiness across infrastructure, staffing, policies and procedures, and compliance controls will be best positioned to compete in 2026. Research administrators play a critical role in preparing their institutions for this shift and supporting faculty as they integrate AI tools into their research methods.
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