Meet the winners of the 2024 FedScoop 50; And, how the DOE sees itself counteracting the AI industry’s ‘profit motive’

Scoop News Group is thrilled to announce the winners of the FedScoop 50 awards for 2024! Now in their 13th year, the FedScoop 50 awards honor the most impactful leaders in the federal government who strive each day to leverage technology to transform government. Scoop News Group once again experienced record voting for the FedScoop 50 in 2024, receiving more than 1 million votes across five categories. As the Biden administration comes to a close, and the federal government prepares for a period of transition, it’s an apt time to reflect on the transformation ushered in over the past year at the hands of selfless government officials and industry partners dedicated to bringing progress to our nation and the American people.

The Energy Department could be a key force in counteracting the “profit motive” driving America’s leading artificial intelligence companies, the agency’s second-in-command said in an interview. DOE Deputy Secretary David Turk told FedScoop that top AI firms aren’t motivated to pursue all the use cases most likely to benefit the public, leaving the U.S. government — which maintains a powerful network of national labs now developing artificial intelligence infrastructure of their own — to play an especially critical role. Turk’s comments come as the Energy Department pushes forward with a series of AI initiatives. One key program is the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence for Science, Security, and Technology, or FASST effort, which is meant to advance the use of powerful datasets maintained by the agency in order to develop science-forward AI models.

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