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DOE awards $159 million to 12 Genesis Mission Phase II projects
DOE names fusion and geothermal AI projects among 12 new Phase II selections. These are research awards, not operating power plants or guaranteed household savings.
By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 8, 2026 · Updated 10/8/2026
The Department of Energy announced on October 8, 2026 that 12 new Phase II Genesis Mission projects will receive awards totaling $159 million. The department also announced six new Phase I awards. The program supports artificial-intelligence and computing work for scientific research.
Two selections directly concern energy development. Commonwealth Fusion Systems will lead an AI-enabled digital twin project for SPARC. DOE describes the project as building a platform to simulate and optimize operations of a fusion demonstration device. The announcement does not establish that a commercial fusion plant is now delivering electricity.
The University of California Irvine will lead MAESTRO, the Multi-agent AI Expert for Subsurface Reasoning and Optimization. DOE says the project will develop a platform to map, stimulate and manage deep underground reservoirs for geothermal energy. This is a research objective, not a measured new quantity of power production.
Other Phase II selections include projects concerning scientific software, microchips, RNA structures, critical minerals, particle accelerators and quantum computing. The new selections bring the Phase II portfolio to 14 projects, joining the previously announced GridFM 2.0 and Prometheus awards.
DOE says the new awards complete a first-year cohort of 297 projects across the broader Genesis Mission portfolio. That total is not the number of newly selected Phase II projects.
For households, the announcement is about possible longer-term advances in energy and scientific capability. It does not promise a lower utility bill, specify when a commercial technology will reach customers, or independently verify the projects' future performance.
Official source: U.S. Department of Energy ↗