This profile outlines the US Department of Energy (DOE), focusing on its organizational structure and its role in AI and biosecurity policy. See our complementary profiles on the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration:

Overview

The Department of Energy (DOE) manages national energy policy, sponsors scientific research, and maintains the nuclear arsenal alongside the DOW. It plays a crucial role in funding and policy related to science, technology, and national security. DOE is the largest US government funder of physical science research, most of which is conducted through DOE-operated national laboratories.

DOE has actively funded research into AI and computing for decades, especially in its national labs. The labs operate some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, which are used for AI research and large-scale training runs, among other things. Via its Office of Strategy and Roadmaps, Office of AI and Quantum, and other components, DOE also plays an important role in AI policy. The Department also carries significant taskings under America’s AI Action Plan and subsequent executive actions, including on AI data center siting and permitting, technical AI evaluations for threats involving weapons of mass destruction or critical infrastructure, and partnerships with private AI developers to secure frontier AI systems.

DOE national labs also conduct extensive life sciences research, including researching biodefense, bioengineering, and emerging infectious diseases. DOE contributed resources, infrastructure, and expertise to scientific research during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to advance biosecurity-relevant technologies, including by conducting research into synthetic biology, gene-editing, diagnostics, infectious diseases, bioinformatics, and bioengineering.

Background on DOE

Organizational structure

DOE is headed by a Secretary of Energy, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Other senior leadership positions are also politically appointed, such as the Deputy Secretary, Chief of Staff, Under Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, and heads of the offices that directly report to the Secretary or Deputy Secretary.

DOE is organized into five main offices, labeled S1 to S5:

1. Office of the Secretary of Energy (S1)
2. Office of the Deputy Secretary of Energy (S2)
3. Office of the Under Secretary of Energy (S3)
4. Office of the Under Secretary for Science (S4)
5. Office of the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security (S5)

The Secretary (S1) and Deputy Secretary (S2) oversee the Department, with S3, S4, and S5 reporting to them. S1 and S2 also oversee 21 smaller offices listed on the right of the org chart. Many—though not all—of these smaller offices have administrative functions, such as finance (Office of the Chief Financial Officer) or legal (Office of the General Counsel).

S3 leads DOE’s “energy dominance” mission and oversees offices including Nuclear Energy, Electricity, Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office (HGEO), and the Office of Energy Dominance Financing (formerly the Loan Programs Office). S4 leads the science and innovation mission and oversees the Office of Science, the Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum, the Office of Fusion, the Office of Strategy and Technology Roadmaps, and the Office of Technology Commercialization. S5 comprises the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which was largely unaffected by the 2025 reorganization. The Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation (CMEI), which absorbed most of the former Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, is unusual in reporting directly to the Secretary rather than through an under secretary.

DOE also oversees 17 national laboratories that produce federally-funded research (see map). Management of these labs is headed by different parts of DOE org chart. The Office of Science (located in S4) oversees 10 of the labs, while the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (S5) oversees 3 labs, including Los Alamos. The Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office supports the National Energy Technology Laboratory, DOE’s only government-owned and government-operated national laboratory. 

Much of DOE’s work and budget is dedicated to the funding and production of scientific research. Similar to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), DOE funds both in-house research, taking place within DOE and its labs, and external research conducted by outside organizations, such as universities.

DOE and AI policy

DOE has been involved in AI research for decades, notably by funding machine learning and other AI research in its national labs. It also has a long history of regulating dual-use technology through its oversight over nuclear research and weapons stockpiles. DOE has since become a central player in federal AI policy, reflecting both its research investments and its unique position at the intersection of domestic science and technology policy and national security. It now leads the government’s flagship AI-for-science initiative, carries significant taskings on AI security and infrastructure, and requested $1.2 billion for its new Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum in FY2027

In 2019, DOE established the Office for AI and Technology to coordinate AI efforts across the labs and the Department. In 2023, DOE replaced this office with the Office for Critical and Emerging Technology (CET), following President Biden’s October 2023 Executive Order on AI (EO).

In the November 2025 reorganization, CET was renamed the Office of Strategy and Technology Roadmaps (OSTR), which retains a coordination and roadmapping role across critical and emerging technologies, while DOE established a separate Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum (AIQ) to lead its AI and advanced computing work. Both sit under the Under Secretary for Science (S4).

The 2023 EO had assigned DOE responsibilities including AI talent development, applying AI foundation models to science, and building evaluations and testbeds to assess risks from AI outputs relating to nuclear, chemical, biological, critical infrastructure, and energy-security threats. Since 2025, a series of presidential directives has further shaped and expanded DOE’s AI role, spanning data center permitting on federal land, security partnerships with frontier AI developers, and AI applications for national security (see recent developments below). Significant among these is the Genesis Mission, which was launched by executive order in November 2025 as a national effort to apply AI to scientific discovery. DOE leads implementation, with the Under Secretary for Science serving as DOE’s lead and AIQ responsible for delivery. The Mission has since grown into a whole-of-government initiative, with more than 15 federal agencies contributing datasets, research facilities, and funding opportunities.

Advances in the national labs

DOE has a long history of driving advances in earlier AI technologies (before machine learning) and in computing, including supercomputers. Many national labs have been involved in AI-related research, including (but not limited to) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

One of DOE’s most notable AI-related efforts involves investment in supercomputing. One of DOE’s most notable AI-related efforts involves investment in supercomputing. As of June 2026, DOE operates three of the world’s four most powerful supercomputers: El Capitan at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Frontier at ORNL, and Aurora at ANL.

DOE is now building a new generation of systems designed specifically for AI, many through public-private partnerships in which industry partners co-invest and share computing capacity. In October 2025, DOE announced nine new supercomputers across its labs, including Solstice at ANL, which will feature 100,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and become the largest AI supercomputer in the DOE complex. Under the Genesis Mission, the labs are also expanding into autonomous experimentation, with DOE funding 14 projects in robotic automated laboratories and the autonomous control of large-scale experiments.

Other research on neural network architectures, learning methodologies, AI applications, and AI’s societal impacts are underway at various other labs. More information about how the national labs are involved in research on emerging technologies can be found in our national labs and FFRDC guide.

Major recent AI-related developments at DOE

Recent highlights are listed below (not comprehensive):

DOE offices working on AI policy and research

There are several DOE offices and components relevant to AI development and policy (non-exhaustive):

DOE and biosecurity policy and research

DOE’s resources, infrastructure, and expertise in scientific research and national security allow the Department to support federal biosecurity efforts. DOE’s network of national laboratories in particular play an important role in advancing technical solutions to biological threats.

DOE national labs involved in biosecurity research include (non-exhaustive list):

• Sandia National Laboratories: has a significant biological research mission including a specific focus area on biodefense & emerging infectious disease. Their work includes biomanufacturing and biodefense research, synthetic biology and gene-editing, infectious disease technology, computational biology and bioinformatics, and developing biosensors and diagnostic devices.
• Los Alamos National Laboratory: includes biosecurity and emerging threats preparedness in its strategic lab agenda, aimed at reducing natural and deliberate biological threats through drug discovery and development, creation of biological research tools, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics, and artificial human organ systems for research. Los Alamos has a National Security Life Sciences program, which houses a Biodefense Research Center and a Global Disease Modeling and Forecasting Center.
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: includes a research focus area on bioscience and bioengineering, studying underlying mechanisms of disease, engineering microbial communities, and addressing biosecurity, health and ecological threats. Home to the Center for Bioengineering, Forensic Science Center, and the Select Agent Center.
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: conducts research in biomanufacturing and is home to the Joint Genome Institute, which focuses on genomic innovation.
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: has a program on Chemical and Biothreat Signatures, including projects on Pathogen Science and Detection and Threat-Agnostic Biodefense.
• Argonne National Laboratory: has a Biosecurity program among its National Security Programs, which “uses new computational and experimental tools to detect engineered biological systems and monitor their potential to spread disease.”
• Brookhaven National Laboratory: leads a research effort focused on biosecurity for bioenergy crops.

2022 National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan

As of July 2026, the 2022 National Biodefense Strategy remains the most recent publicly available government-wide biodefense framework. DOE has supporting responsibilities across all five goals, including biological-threat detection, data sharing, biosafety and biosecurity innovation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

Major recent biosecurity-related developments at DOE

Following the 2001 anthrax attacks, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory collaborated and contributed to the development of the Biological Aerosol Sentry and Information System (BASIS), a field-ready detection system for pathogens and a precursor to the Homeland Security (DHS) BioWatch program. DOE’s labs continue to collaborate with agencies like DHS to advance biosecurity efforts.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, DOE established the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (NVBL), through the 2020 CARES Act, leveraging its access to some of the world’s fastest supercomputers to develop complex epidemiological models and additive manufacturing capabilities to alleviate shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies. DOE also established the COVID-19 Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) to provide funding to assist non-DOE entities in their efforts to combat the pandemic. See the DOE Office of Science video on the Department’s response to the pandemic.

More recently, DOE’s biosecurity work has converged with its AI and computing mission. The Genesis Mission names biotechnology among the national science and technology challenges it targets, and DOE’s supercomputers, scientific datasets, and automated laboratories are increasingly central to federal AIxBio efforts.

Additional recent highlights are listed below (not comprehensive):

DOE offices working on biosecurity policy and research

Beyond DOE’s national labs, the Department has several offices relevant to biosecurity (non-exhaustive):

Working at DOE

DOE hires applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, ranging from law and consulting to science, technology, and academia. One common path to working at DOE is its ORISE STEM Internships and Fellowships. Interns and fellows are placed in offices around the Department, and many are able to transition into full-time jobs afterward. Another great early-career opportunity are the NNSA Post-Bachelor’s and Graduate Fellowship Programs, run by Pacific Northwest National Lab and sponsored by DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Additional fellowships that facilitate placements at DOE and other agencies to consider are the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, and the Horizon Fellowship (see full policy fellowship database here).

The national labs employ many of scientists (often with STEM degrees) as contractors (not federal employees) and they also offer many policy-oriented “analyst” roles. Advantages of working for the national labs include being able to work on some of the most cutting-edge scientific research, with access to advanced DOE technologies and the opportunity to collaborate with scientists across the DOE laboratory network. The labs are also where much of DOE’s new AI work is happening. Also, after working at a national lab for several years, there are often opportunities to transition into government.

To find open positions at DOE, visit USAJOBS filtering for “Department of Energy”, and check out its Careers page, which may include postings not listed on USAJOBS. Lab positions are posted separately on each laboratory’s own careers site rather than on USAJOBS, so those need to be searched individually (see also our guide to the national labs). You can also follow DOE on LinkedIn to stay updated about their activities and new job postings. If you’re looking for DOE internships, fellowships, and other early-career opportunities, check out the Federal Internship Finder and the USAJOBS Federal Internship Portal, and filter for “Department of Energy”.

If you want to apply, check out our federal agency application advice section for guides to USAJOBS, federal resumes, interviewing for federal positions, and more.

Further reading