National lab chief calls for public sector to accept risk in AI partnership

The marriage of artificial intelligence and fusion research is transforming the public-private partnership model in ways that require taking on risk, according to the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

“Some of the ways we think about introducing new software and new technologies into our environment aren't really well matched to this moment,” said Kim Budil, head of the lab that houses the National Ignition Facility, where a major breakthrough in the quest for fusion energy was achieved almost three...