OpenAI to provide its models to Los Alamos, other national labs
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Image: Los Alamos National Laboratory
OpenAI will put its models on a supercomputer at Los Alamos National Laboratory and make them available to researchers at other U.S. national laboratories under a deal with the government announced Thursday.
Why it matters: OpenAI is positioning the move as part of an effort to work with the Trump administration and support U.S. leadership and innovation.
Driving the news: As part of the deal, OpenAI and Microsoft will deploy o1 or another of OpenAI's o-series of reasoning models on Venado, an Nvidia-powered supercomputer based at Los Alamos. The model will also be available to researchers at Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories.
- Venado is designed to help generate scientific breakthroughs in areas such as materials science, astrophysics and renewable energy.
OpenAI announced the partnership during a Washington, D.C., meeting Thursday that included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, members of Congress and staffers, and representatives of the Trump administration.
- At the same meeting, OpenAI product chief Kevin Weil was set to provide an off-the-record demonstration of other new capabilities OpenAI plans to introduce during the first quarter of this year.
- It's the first time the company has previewed new technology for U.S. government officials before an official release.
What they're saying: "As threats to the nation become more complex and more pressing, we need new approaches and advanced technologies to preserve America's security," Los Alamos lab director Thom Mason said 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."
Flashback: Last June, OpenAI and Los Alamos said they were working together to study the impact and risks of using generative AI in an active lab.
The big picture: Altman and other tech leaders have become fixtures in D.C. in recent weeks, with many present for Trump's inauguration. The tech companies have also been making moves seemingly aimed at pleasing the new administration, including seven-figure donations to the president's inauguration.
- Meta on Wednesday reached a deal with Trump that will see it pay $25 million — most toward Trump's presidential library — to settle claims related to the shuttering of his account after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
- Google is following the president's lead in its maps product, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Our thought bubble: Elon Musk — a dedicated foe of OpenAI who has repeatedly sued the company — may have the new president's ear. But Altman, who shared a photo op with the president at last week's Stargate announcement, is spending a ton of time with team Trump, too.
