The White House and the U.S. Department of Energy announced the first cohort of Genesis Mission projects, which aim to leverage AI to drive scientific breakthroughs in energy, national security, healthcare, and other areas. The Genesis Mission will advance R&D by coordinating the activities of U.S. National Laboratories, universities, and technology leaders, including Microsoft. Coverage can be found in Nextgov/FCS. In addition, this Microsoft blog discusses the company’s participation in the program.
Thank you for reading! Below, we share additional tech policy news from the past week, as well as a featured podcast.
This Week in Washington
- Reuters: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to lead high-level conversations with China about AI in September, according to reports. The dialogue, the first on AI in the Trump administration, will focus particularly on American concerns about intellectual property and frontier AI models.
- Nextgov: More than 80% of staffers in the Department of Transportation (DOT) are “looking at the uses of AI,” according to Transportation Deputy Secretary Steven Bradbury. Projects at the department deploying AI include software production, workforce advancements, and modernizing the air traffic control system.
- Broadband Breakfast: The Senate Commerce Committee advanced the Accelerating Broadband Permits Act. The bill would direct the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to display all Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program projects on a public dashboard.
Article Summary
- CNBC: In an open letter, a group of tech and business leaders, including Microsoft, Meta, and Nvidia, released a letter urging policymakers to maintain access to open-weight AI models. The letter underscores the importance of a “strong, open ecosystem that diffuses into every sector” to drive U.S. AI leadership. The full letter can be found here.
- StateScoop: Pennsylvania is investing $125 million into startups in the state, with the goal of driving innovation in biotech, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and energy. The investment program, dubbed Innovate in PA 2.0, was included in the annual budget signed into law last week. On the other side of the country, California is leaning heavily into AI as it prepares for the height of wildfire season. Among the state’s initiatives are 915 AI-enabled cameras and three new satellites launched last month.
- Semafor: The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is investing an additional $125 million in PsiQuantum, a quantum computing startup. The startup is one of two companies to reach the final stage of DARPA’s quantum benchmarking initiative in February, along with Microsoft.
- WIRED: To prevent hacks from malicious AI bots, cybersecurity defenders are embedding prompts into code that force bots to breach security protocols and shut down. The strategy, which has successfully mitigated 152 types of common attacks, turns a strategy previously used by hackers on its head.
Featured Highlight
- Switched On
Artificial Intelligence has completely transformed the hurricane forecasting industry, with AI models significantly outperforming legacy approaches to storm prediction. Switched On discusses the implications of this transformation for energy markets, which now have access to significantly more reliable data when preparing for potential disruptions. (AI’s Edge in Hurricane Forecasting: Analyst Reaction – July 20, 2026 – 15 minute listen)
Note: Voices for Innovation regularly shares a range of opinion articles and press releases from organizations in and publications covering tech policy. These pieces are meant to educate our audience, not to endorse specific platforms or bills.