How Prize Competitions Can Help Fuel America’s AI Energy Revolution

Nick Loris and Adria Wilson wrote for The National Interest about the Genesis Mission.

Prize-based incentives can fast-track breakthroughs in AI and energy, cut red tape, mobilize private capital, and expand the number of US innovators. 

Last November, President Donald Trump launched the Genesis Mission through an executive order (EO) that outlines 26 National Science and Technology Challenges, ranging from autonomous scientific labs to fusion energy to artificial intelligence (AI)-driven grid operations. Embedded in that order is a directive to use prize competitions to get there. This is a smart policy because prizes are a growing but still underutilized tool at the Department of Energy (DOE). Now the DOE needs to run with it.

How Prize Competitions Accelerate AI Innovation and Energy Technology Deployment

Prize competitions not only drive new solutions to market but also incentivize rapid innovation. Rather than picking winners upfront, they set a challenge and pay when someone solves it. Want faster grid interconnection? Offer a prize for the AI model that cuts the timeline in half. You want better nuclear licensing? Put up a purse for the tool that eliminates the paperwork bottleneck. 

Read the full piece in The National Interest here.