Notice2024-20676
Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Frontiers in AI for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) Initiative
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 12, 2024
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The Department of Energy's Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET) seeks public comment to inform how DOE and its 17 national laboratories can leverage existing assets to provide a national AI capability for the public interest.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74268-74270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20676]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Frontiers in AI for
Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) Initiative
AGENCY: Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy's Office of Critical and Emerging
Technologies (CET) seeks public comment to inform how DOE and its 17
national laboratories can leverage existing assets to provide a
national AI capability for the public interest.
DATES: Responses to the RFI are requested by November 11, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit comments electronically to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6026213333342008114e040f054e070f16"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2e686f7d7d7a6e465f004a414b00494158">[email protected]</span></a> and include ``FASST RFI'' in the subject line of the
email.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Further questions may be addressed to
Charles Yang through <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#397f786a6a6d795148175d565c175e564f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e5a3a4b6b6b1a58d94cb818a80cb828a93">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 586-6116.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
This is an RFI issued by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE)
Office of Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET). This RFI seeks
public input to inform our ongoing work and DOE's proposed Frontiers in
AI for Science, Security, and Technology (FASST) initiative,\1\ which
seeks to build the world's most powerful, integrated scientific AI
models for scientific discovery, applied energy deployment, and
national security applications.
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\1\ <a href="http://www.energy.gov/fasst">www.energy.gov/fasst</a>.
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DOE seeks input from:
<bullet> Academic institutions interested in partnering with DOE to
leverage AI for scientific research
<bullet> For-profit and non-profit AI developers and research labs
<bullet> Data center and compute infrastructure providers
<bullet> Startups and investors
<bullet> Small businesses involved in the development or provision of
AI technologies and services
<bullet> Civil society organizations potentially impacted by AI
<bullet> Labor training and technical workforce development
organizations
<bullet> Think tanks and research organizations
<bullet> And other interested entities
II. Purpose
FASST is DOE's proposed initiative to build the world's most
powerful, integrated scientific AI systems. This initiative leverages
DOE's demonstrated history of capability building for the U.S.
government, as well as key enabling infrastructure already housed at
the DOE's Office of Science and Applied Energy facilities, and
facilities operated by National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA),
including:
<bullet> Data: DOE is the leading generator of classified and
unclassified scientific data through the world's largest collection of
advanced experimental facilities, including particle accelerators,
powerful light sources, specialized facilities for genomics and
nanoscience, and neutron scattering sources.
<bullet> Computing Infrastructure: For decades, DOE has built and
operated the world's fastest, most powerful, and highly energy
efficient supercomputers. These supercomputers are strategic components
of the nation's defensive capabilities, drive innovation through open
access to the scientific community, and are the basis upon which to
build safe and trustworthy AI capability for the nation.
<bullet> Workforce: DOE and its national labs host over 40,000
physicists, chemists, biologists, materials scientists, and computer
scientists, who tackle some of the most urgent challenges in the
national interest.
<bullet> Partnerships: DOE has unparalleled experience in mission-
driven public-private collaborations. Through the Exascale Computing
Project, DOE worked with industry partners to co-design and develop
critical components of the computer chips that power today's leading AI
models and partnered with leading academic institutions to develop
scalable high-performance software libraries.
This RFI seeks public input to inform how DOE can partner with
outside institutions and leverage its assets to implement and develop
the roadmap for FASST, based on the four pillars of FASST: AI-ready
data; Frontier-Scale AI Computing Infrastructure and Platforms; Safe,
Secure, and Trustworthy AI Models and Systems; and AI Applications; as
well as considerations for workforce and FASST governance.
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III. Questions
1. Data
(a) What kinds of data governance practices, risks, and
opportunities should DOE take into consideration, particularly for open
sourcing scientific corpuses to the community or interested parties?
(b) What types of scientific and energy data should DOE prioritize
for large-scale tokenization?
(c) Are there partner organizations with relevant scientific or
energy-related data that DOE should work with?
(d) What are additional data-related tools and technologies DOE
should invest in to promote AI-ready data and fuel continued US
leadership in AI?
2. Compute
(a) How can DOE ensure FASST investments support a competitive
hardware ecosystem and maintain American leadership in AI compute,
including through DOE's existing AI and high-performance-computing
testbeds? \2\
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\2\ <a href="http://www.energy.gov/cet/artificial-intelligence-testbeds-doe">www.energy.gov/cet/artificial-intelligence-testbeds-doe</a>.
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(b) How can DOE improve awareness of existing allocation processes
for DOE's AI-capable supercomputers and AI testbeds for smaller
companies and newer research teams? \3\ How should DOE evaluate compute
resource allocation strategies for large-scale foundation-model
training and/or other AI use cases?
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\3\ <a href="https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities/Accessing-ASCR-Facilities">https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Facilities/Accessing-ASCR-Facilities</a>.
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(c) How can DOE continue to support development of energy-efficient
AI hardware, algorithms, and platforms?
(d) How can DOE continue to support the development of AI hardware,
algorithms, and platforms tailored for science and engineering
applications in cases where the needs of those applications differ from
the needs of commodity AI applications? How can DOE partner with other
compute capability providers, including both on-premises and cloud
solution providers, to support various hardware technologies and
provide a portfolio of compute capabilities for its mission areas?
3. Models
(a) How should DOE consider the benefits of open sourcing of
scientific and applied energy AI models for the scientific community
while fully addressing research security and other national-security
concerns?
(b) How can DOE support investment and innovation in energy
efficient AI model architectures and deployment, including potentially
through prize-based competitions?
(c) What considerations should inform DOE's ongoing AI red-teaming
and safety tests, particularly for Chemical, Biological, Radiological
and Nuclear (CBRN) risks?
4. Applications
(a) What are application areas in science, applied energy, and
national security that are primed for AI breakthroughs?
(b) How can DOE ensure foundation AI models are effectively
developed to realize breakthrough applications, in partnership with
industry, academia, and other agencies?
5. Workforce
(a) DOE has an inventory of AI workforce training programs underway
through our national labs.\4\ What other partnerships or convenings
could DOE host or develop to support an AI ready scientific workforce
in the United States?
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\4\ <a href="http://www.energy.gov/cet/supercharging-americas-ai-workforce">www.energy.gov/cet/supercharging-americas-ai-workforce</a>.
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6. Governance
(a) How can DOE effectively engage and partner with industry and
civil society? What are convenings, organizational structures, and
engagement mechanisms that DOE should consider for FASST?
(b) What role should public-private partnerships play in FASST?
What problems or topics should be the focus of these partnerships?
IV. Response Guidelines
Commenters are welcome to comment on any question. RFI responses
shall include:
1. RFI title;
2. Name(s), phone number(s), and email address(es) for the
principal point(s) of contact;
3. Institution or organization affiliation and postal address; and
4. Clear indication of the specific question(s) to which you are
responding.
Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#377176646463775f461953585219505841"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="377176646463775f461953585219505841">[email protected]</span></a> with the subject line ``FASST RFI'' no later than 5:00
p.m. (ET) on November 11, 2024. Responses must be provided as
attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file
sizes exceeding 25 MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message
delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (*.docx) or
Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) attachment to the email and should be no more
than 15 pages in length, 12-point font, 1-inch margins. Only electronic
responses will be accepted. Only one response per individual or
organization will be accepted.
A response to this RFI will not be viewed as a binding commitment
to develop or pursue the project or ideas discussed. DOE may engage in
post-response conversations with interested parties.
Confidential Business Information
Because information received in response to this RFI may be used to
structure future programs and/or otherwise be made available to the
public, respondents are strongly advised NOT to include any information
in their responses that might be considered business sensitive,
proprietary, or otherwise confidential.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that
he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public
disclosure should submit via email two well-marked copies: one copy of
the document marked ``confidential'' including all the information
believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non-
confidential'' with the information believed to be confidential
deleted. Failure to comply with these marking requirements may result
in the disclosure of the unmarked information under the Freedom of
Information Act or otherwise. The U.S. Government is not liable for the
disclosure or use of unmarked information and may use or disclose such
information for any purpose. If your response contains confidential,
proprietary, or privileged information, you must include a cover sheet
marked as follows identifying the specific pages containing
confidential, proprietary, or privileged information:
Notice of Restriction on Disclosure and Use of Data
Pages [list applicable pages] of this response may contain
confidential, proprietary, or privileged information that is exempt
from public disclosure. Such information shall be used or disclosed
only for the purposes described in this RFI. The Government may use or
disclose any information that is not appropriately marked or otherwise
restricted, regardless of source.
In addition, (1) the header and footer of every page that contains
confidential, proprietary, or privileged information must be marked as
follows: ``Contains, Confidential, Proprietary, or Privileged
Information Exempt from Public Disclosure'' and (2) every line and
[[Page 74270]]
paragraph containing proprietary, privileged, or trade secret
information must be clearly marked with [[double brackets]] or
highlighting. Submissions containing CBI should be sent to:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#266067757572664e570842494308414950"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bdfbfceeeee9fdd5cc93d9d2d893dad2cb">[email protected]</span></a>.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on September
6, 2024, by Helena Fu, Director, Office of Critical and Emerging
Technologies, pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of
Energy. That document with the original signature and date is
maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance
with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon
publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on September 9, 2024.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2024-20676 Filed 9-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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