Israel and America’s “Genesis Mission”
Israelis are so busy with present-day, day-to-day worries, politics and news that it is easy to miss some very important developments, even when they come out of President Donald Trump’s White House. In this case, I am referring to the recent Executive Order (EO) titled: “Launching the Genesis Mission”. In the words of the EO, dated November 24, 2025:
“This order launches the “Genesis Mission” as a dedicated, coordinated national effort to unleash a new age of AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century.”
In the EO, the initiative is compared to the World Word II Manhattan Project, the research and development program to develop and produce the first nuclear weapons, and that – as stated by the EO – “was instrumental to our victory in World War II.”
The goal of the Genesis Mission is to enhance significantly the science and engineering capabilities of the United States. It is expected to “deliver decisive breakthroughs to secure American energy dominance, accelerate scientific discovery, and strengthen national security.”
The instrument designed to achieve this goal is called the American Science and Security Platform which key components are:
(1) high-performance computing, including the most advanced supercomputers;
(2) advanced AI tools, such as domain-specific AI foundation models;
(3) vast datasets, by providing secure access to massive collections of federal data; and
(4) autonomous systems, by connecting AI to physical facilities for AI-directed experimentation and manufacturing.
The program is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Darío Gil, Under Secretary for Science and Genesis Mission Director stated that “the Genesis Mission marks a defining moment for the next era of American science. We are linking the nation’s most advanced facilities, data, and computing into one closed-loop system to create a scientific instrument for the ages, an engine for discovery that doubles R&D productivity and solves challenges once thought impossible.”
This EO should serve as yet another wake-up call for Israel regarding the importance of building a strategic alliance with the United States in artificial intelligence. A very positive sign of progress in this direction is the inclusion of Israel in the recently launched U.S.-led “Pax Silica” to cooperate on supply chains for artificial intelligence (see a report here).
It is clear that Israel cannot achieve “AI sovereignty,” defined as the ability of a state or organization to independently control and manage its AI technologies, data, and infrastructure. Israel lacks the economic capacity to achieve full AI sovereignty just as it lacks the ability to attain full independence in its defense needs (for more on AI sovereignty, see here, in Hebrew).
Despite the gaps, Israel still has the ability to narrow them and position itself at the forefront of AI activity. As shown the last Stanford University AI Index Annual Report (April 2025), Israel ranks very high in AI talent. Thanks to its culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, Israel also ranks highly in global assessments of AI research and applications. Another critical domain in which Israel holds a clear advantage is AI system security, paralleling its globally leading position in cybersecurity technologies.
While the EO compares the Genesis Mission to the Manhattan Project, U.S. Secretary Chris Wright has also compared it to the Apollo Program: “the Genesis Mission will unleash the full power of our National Laboratories, supercomputers, and data resources to ensure that America is the global leader in artificial intelligence and to usher in a new golden era of American discovery.”
Israel already maintains strong, long-standing cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy in research and development, which has led to the establishment of successful joint programs such as the U.S.-Israel Center of Excellence for Energy, Engineering, and Water Technologies (see here). In addition, in July 2025, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the DOE on energy and artificial intelligence.
A comprehensive U.S.-Israel strategic agreement on artificial intelligence should be a central objective of the newly established Israel Artificial Intelligence Agency.
