NIH joins Trump’s $5B AI mission with biomedical research push

Research NIH joins Trump’s $5B AI mission with biomedical research push By Marissa Russo Jul 22, 2026 2:43pm Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Institutes of Health (NIH) Artificial Intelligence Food and Drug Administration (FDA) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new efforts Wednesday aligned with President Donald Trump’s artificial intelligence-driven Genesis Mission. HHS plans to support biomedical research and accelerate discoveries, with a particular focus on chronic disease, a key priority of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The announcement was part of a broader White House rollout of more than $5 billion in federal commitments to expand the Genesis Mission. More than 15 agencies will contribute research awards, funding opportunities, specialized scientific datasets and research facilities to the whole-of-government initiative. The commitments include efforts to uncover the root causes of chronic disease, unlock treatments for pediatric cancer and accelerate drug discovery and clinical translation. HHS will also contribute to federal projects involving autonomous laboratories and AI models designed to make biological systems more predictable. The efforts stem from the president’s November 2025 executive order launching the Genesis Mission, a coordinated national initiative aimed at using AI, advanced computing and federal research resources to accelerate scientific discovery. What began as a Department of Energy effort has since expanded across the federal government. In collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, HHS will launch a series of “National Science and Technology Challenges” encouraging scientists to apply AI to pressing health problems, according to a July 22 statement. The flagship challenge will focus on identifying the root causes of chronic disease, while others will target pediatric cancer and drug discovery and development. “America will lead the next generation of medical discovery by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence,” Kennedy said in the release. “We are mobilizing the nation’s best researchers to uncover the root causes of chronic disease, accelerate lifesaving breakthroughs, and help Make America Healthy Again.” The announcement comes as the use of AI, particularly generative AI and natural language processing tools, has increased across federal health agencies, according to recent data from the Bipartisan Policy Center. Between fiscal years 2024 and 2025, the number of reported AI use cases increased 148% at the FDA, 87% at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 51% at the National Institutes of Health. NIH remains the largest user of AI among the agencies studied. The centerpiece of HHS’ participation is the NIH-led Bio Genesis Mission, which aims to build a “future-ready, intelligent biomedical research ecosystem,” NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., said in a statement. The initiative will pair AI and advanced computing with new approaches to research policy, governance and partnerships, with the goal of accelerating discoveries for patients with cancer, chronic disease and rare conditions. Within the next 10 years, NIH aims to cut in half the time it takes for a scientific discovery to reach the people who need it. “NIH has been actively investing in these priority areas, with more than $1.2 billion in obligated FY26 and planned FY27 funding aligned to these challenge areas,” Bhattacharya said. NIH also plans to announce new Bio Genesis Mission funding opportunities soon. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is also joining the government-wide push to advance the White House’s AI priorities. The agency announced a $400 million investment over the next four years to establish 20 Programmable Cloud Lab test-bed nodes, creating a national network of AI-enabled autonomous laboratories in partnership with the Berkeley, California-based Astera Institute. The use of autonomous laboratories to accelerate scientific discovery is not a new concept. Thermo Fisher Scientific, for example, teamed up with Nvidia in January to build out autonomous laboratory infrastructure. Biotechs are also getting involved in the field, with Lila Sciences raising $235 million to expand AI-powered autonomous research labs driven by what the company calls “scientific superintelligence.” NSF also pledged more than $80 million to develop next-generation scientific data infrastructure that will allow researchers to “discover, access, share and analyze scientific data at scale.” The agency is committing up to an additional $100 million to develop AI-ready datasets across science and engineering, including by using AI to generate metadata, integrate datasets and build automated data pipelines. The broader federal AI push comes as the FDA and NIH are encouraging researchers to reduce their reliance on animal testing through new approach methodologies, or NAMs, including AI-powered models and organs-on-chips. Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FDA Modernization Act 3.0, which would require the FDA to update certain regulations by replacing references to animal testing with broader language covering nonclinical testing methods. The Senate previously passed related legislation. The FDA has also pushed the use of Elsa, its generative AI system launched in June 2025. The agency has used the tool to accelerate clinical protocol reviews, shorten scientific evaluations and identify high-priority inspection targets. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Institutes of Health (NIH) Artificial Intelligence Food and Drug Administration (FDA) AI and Machine Learning Research