The Energy Department might be all in on artificial intelligence, but the increasing apprehension among the American public is starting to pose a challenge, according to the agency’s top official. During a budget hearing on Capitol Hill last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told lawmakers that “The country as a whole is going very negative on AI, and this is a risk,” AND that “It will be a loss to America if we stop this development and this investment and this improvement.” The DOE under Wright has a major role to play in the Trump administration’s ambitious, AI-focused Genesis Mission, with plenty of focus on the national laboratories, especially. Wright said he views opposition to AI as a risk that’s “very real” and “growing, particularly across rural America.”
Maj. Gen. Christopher Niemi has been nominated to serve as the Air Force’s first-ever chief modernization officer as part of a reorganization of the service’s Air Force Futures. The Trump administration announced Niemi’s nomination for promotion to three-star general last week. If confirmed by lawmakers, he would serve in a dual-hatted position as both the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for strategy, design and requirements and the service’s official chief modernization officer, according to an Air Force spokesperson.