White House Launches Project Genesis: Accelerationism Meets Scientific Research

Folks, Trump has made another big move recently. He announced the launch of a plan called "Genesis," aimed directly at the U.S.-China tech war. When this news came out, it didn't even get as much attention as some of his gossipy headlines, but don't be fooled—this is no small matter. Some are already comparing this plan to the Apollo moon landing and the Manhattan Project. Let's be real: how could Trump not do something big this time? AI is no longer just commercial competition; it has become a clash of national strategies. Trump's idea is straightforward: let AI empower scientific research—this is the practice of accelerationism. He has asked the U.S. Department of Energy to lead the creation of the American Science and Security Platform (ASSP), turning it into the scientific research infrastructure of the future. The specifics: government-led integration of industry, academia, and research resources, opening up federal scientific data, and then using advanced computing power to train AI models and AI agents, applying them to robotic laboratories, transforming the research and innovation system, and defending America's global technological dominance. Isn't this just a national tech mobilization order for the U.S.? The executive order requires that within 60 days, 20 national-level scientific and technological challenges be identified in six major areas: advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, critical materials, nuclear fission, fusion, quantum information, semiconductors, and microelectronics. Then within 90 days, a list of federal resources must be drawn up—what the Department of Energy and corporate partners can provide, who else is needed, and who to bring on board. Within 120 days, a plan to open up data across government, academia, and industry must be produced. Within 240 days, assess the robotic automation capabilities of national laboratories, build AI workflows, and prepare for AI-led unmanned experiments and manufacturing. Within 270 days—that is, by August next year—results must be delivered, demonstrating the ASSP platform's initial ability to solve national-level scientific and technological challenges. When it comes to the closed loop of AI scientific research, many might think of academic garbage—AI learning and AI reviewing papers. Actually, the biggest problem is that large language models have a tendency to fabricate facts. Because ordinary AI models are trained on massive amounts of internet junk, they sometimes reflect humanity's collective hallucinations. If you feed them entirely high-quality information, it's different. The U.S. federal government holds vast amounts of high-quality data—NASA's astronomy, CDC's viruses, DOE's nuclear energy—but this data is scattered across various laboratories, forming data silos. Now the U.S. is mobilizing resources on a scale unseen in decades, putting the Department of Energy in charge because it is the only federal department with computing power, data, and energy infrastructure. It will integrate data and use AI models for labeling, correlation, and standardization. Just relying on existing data can partially solve the scientific community's data hunger. The next step will be very aggressive: letting AI agents autonomously pose questions, design experimental plans, verify answers, and achieve automation in scientific research. As a result, the cycle of basic scientific discovery will be compressed from years to days, or even hours. This will completely change how research is conducted and how research talent is cultivated. The U.S. is ambitious, but China is not falling behind. AI applications in key areas—such as protein structure prediction, quantum simulation, and special materials development—are already at the global leading level. The number of AI patents and AI-assisted papers is higher than that of the U.S. But the real test has just begun, because the research model may face a disruptive innovation. How do we build China's own autonomous and secure scientific research system, comprehensively safeguarding data and talent? This is also a problem our nationwide system needs to solve. For a long time, the American tech right has wanted to copy China's playbook, believing their system has hindered innovation. Now that Trump is in office, he is using centralization to loosen the reins on tech giants. If local governments dare to nitpick tech companies under the guise of regulation, anything not conducive to competing with China, the Department of Justice will sue state governments for unconstitutionality. All human concerns about AI safety and AI ethics are nothing compared to America's fear of falling behind China. So now the U.S., with militarized determination, is positioning AI as a strategic weapon, just like the atomic bomb back then, and must let the military-industrial complex go all out. Whether the future Genesis can break new ground in scientific research, no one knows. But what is certain is that national will has overwhelmed everything, and reckless acceleration, acceleration, acceleration will ultimately drag all humanity into a tech arms race.