The US Energy Department (DOE) and AMD have announced a $1 billion partnership to build two supercomputers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The systems, named Lux and Discovery, aim to advance AI, energy research, medicine, and national security.
The Lux supercomputer will be deployed in early 2026, while Discovery will arrive in 2028 and begin user operations in 2029. Both projects are part of the US AI Action Plan, which seeks to strengthen national competitiveness and create a secure, sovereign AI infrastructure.
The Lux AI supercomputer, co-developed by AMD, ORNL, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, will be the first dedicated US AI Factory for science. It will use AMD Instinct MI355X GPUs, AMD EPYC CPUs, and AMD Pensando networking technologies.
According to AMD, Lux will expand the DOE’s AI leadership and accelerate progress in energy, materials, medicine, and manufacturing research. “Discovery and Lux will advance the most critical US research priorities in science, energy, and medicine, demonstrating the power of public-private partnership at their best,” said Lisa Su, AMD’s chair and CEO.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright added to this new approach to public-private collaboration, saying, “Winning the AI race requires new and creative partnerships that bring together the brightest minds and industries American science has to offer.”
The Discovery supercomputer will build on the capabilities of ORNL’s existing systems, using AMD EPYC CPUs codenamed ‘Venice’ and AMD Instinct MI430X GPUs. The MI430X is designed for both high-performance computing and AI applications.
ORNL Director Stephen Streiffer said Discovery will “drive scientific innovation faster and farther than ever before.” It will enable large-scale simulations in energy, biology, and materials science while improving efficiency through its “Bandwidth Everywhere” design.
When completed, Lux and Discovery will form the foundation of the American AI Stack, advancing US leadership in computing and research. The DOE and its partners said the systems will ensure that critical scientific breakthroughs are developed and deployed domestically.
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