The US AI research initiative is set to receive a major boost after the Trump administration announced a $5 billion investment to tackle long-standing scientific challenges across multiple fields using artificial intelligence.

According to a statement released on Wednesday, the funding will support efforts to identify the root causes of chronic diseases, accelerate drug discovery, and develop longer-lasting building materials. The initiative will also enable researchers to use AI to address a wide range of scientific questions.

Michael Kratsios, Chief Technology Adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, told Reuters that scientists will gain access to the Department of Energy’s supercomputers, AI capabilities, specialized datasets, and other resources needed to conduct algorithm-driven research.

Moreover, the US AI research program will involve 15 federal agencies. These include the Departments of Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation, Defense, and Interior.

“The White House is helping bring together all of the different agencies that work on different domains to make them part of this larger effort on AI for science,” Kratsios said.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration also plans to reform the way the federal government funds scientific research. According to a White House report released on Tuesday night and authored by Kratsios, the administration intends to provide greater support to individual scientists and AI-driven research instead of directing more funding to universities.

The report stated that “Federal support for science must be politically accountable.” The proposed changes would also give the administration greater oversight of how federal research funding is allocated.

During Trump’s second term, the administration has sought increased control over federal research spending. However, federal courts have challenged some of those efforts. In January, an appeals panel ruled that the administration could not reduce National Institutes of Health grant funding provided to universities conducting scientific and medical research.

AI models rely on large datasets to identify patterns, generate predictions, and automate decision-making. The U.S. government maintains some of the world’s largest collections of data, including records related to chemicals, critical minerals, and patient health.

Kratsios said the $5 billion initiative presents an opportunity to train AI models using these government datasets and apply those algorithms to solve complex scientific problems. As a result, the US AI research initiative aims to strengthen scientific discovery and expand the use of artificial intelligence across federal research programs.

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