AI, Quantum, and Nuclear Lead White House FY2027 R&D Priorities

AI and Quantum Among Top White House R&D Priorities for FY2027

SEP 26, 2025

The White House released a memo outlining federal R&D priorities for fiscal year 2027. While Congress sets final budgets, this guidance shapes agency roadmaps, solicitations, and what gets fast-tracked.

The document, issued by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, calls for a tighter focus on economic growth, national security, and U.S. leadership in critical technologies. It rejects DEI-focused program goals from prior years while keeping emphasis on workforce growth, industry partnerships, and mission outcomes.

Top priorities called out in the memo

• AI and emerging compute: Fund "novel AI paradigms and computing architectures" tied to accelerated scientific discovery, nuclear fission and fusion, quantum energy science, advanced space analytics, and remote sensing/navigation. Enhance AI evaluation methods and build structured scientific datasets for model training.
• Quantum science: Stand up consortia, invest in testbeds and critical infrastructure, and ramp manufacturing of next-generation quantum devices. Prioritize related materials, mathematical, and physical sciences.
• Semiconductors, comms, and advanced manufacturing: Advance device performance, supply chain resilience, and production-readiness for future computing and network technologies.
• Energy "dominance": Emphasize fossil fuels, advanced nuclear fission and fusion, geothermal, and hydropower. Support advanced reactors, SMRs, fusion demonstrators, and nuclear fuel recycling/reprocessing. Shift later-stage R&D/commercialization toward private-sector cost sharing and use of user facilities to enable multisector collaboration.
• National and economic security: Strengthen U.S. military capabilities, invest in cybersecurity, and pursue a "Golden Dome" missile defense shield concept.
• Health and biotechnology: Target pressing health challenges, biosafety, and domestic biomanufacturing capacity.
• Space leadership: Back crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. Support basic and applied R&D in areas such as novel sensing modalities and radiation belt remediation.
• Polar research: Elevate Arctic research and infrastructure to support observation and prediction of physical, biological, geologic, and socioeconomic systems. Maintain and, where possible, strengthen Antarctic infrastructure.

What this means for researchers and R&D leaders

• Anchor AI work to mission outcomes: Proposals that pair state-of-the-art methods with nuclear, space, and remote sensing applications will read well. Include explicit evaluation plans and data asset strategies.
• Build or join consortia: Quantum R&D and testbeds are in focus. Partnerships that connect academia, national labs, and manufacturers will be favored.
• Target manufacturability: For semis, advanced comms, and devices, emphasize fabrication pathways, supply chain, and pilot-scale validation.
• Plan co-funding in energy: Expect stronger asks for private match or industry partnerships for later-stage work. Position lab user facilities as collaboration hubs.
• Security-forward proposals: Map dual-use work to cybersecurity, systems resilience, and defense needs. Be explicit about transition paths.
• Biotech with biosafety and scale-up: Pair health priorities with biosafety frameworks and domestic biomanufacturing readiness.
• Space and sensing: Connect payload concepts, in-space operations, and radiation environment work to crewed lunar/Mars timelines.
• Polar programs: Arctic and Antarctic infrastructure and observing systems are fair game; integrate logistics, data interoperability, and local stakeholder needs.

Policy shifts to note

The memo criticizes prior DEI-oriented education and research efforts and signals continued rollback of related grants and programs. Workforce growth, industry collaboration, and national security remain as cross-cutting priorities.

There is tension between stated climate-adjacent goals (e.g., Arctic/Antarctic research infrastructure) and recent funding cuts affecting some research lines. Expect uneven support across agencies and plan contingencies for multi-year work.

Next steps for agencies and PIs

• Track agency-specific guidance derived from this memo and update your FY2027 capture plans accordingly.
• Pre-bake evaluation benchmarks, structured datasets, and validation testbeds into AI and quantum proposals.
• Line up industry letters of support and user facility access to meet cost-share and transition-readiness expectations, especially in energy and manufacturing.
• For polar and space work, detail infrastructure needs, data pipelines, and international/partner interfaces up front.

For official updates and subsequent implementing guidance, monitor the OSTP and OMB sites:

• Office of Science and Technology Policy
• Office of Management and Budget

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