Trump launches AI “Manhattan Project” with $250B push
4IR - Daily AI News
Welcome back to 4IR. Here’s last week’s lineup:
Trump launches AI “Manhattan Project” with $250B push - White House signs Genesis Mission executive order November 24th, mobilizing national labs and federal datasets to build AI models for scientific breakthroughs, partnering with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic
Congress wants 30 years in prison for AI fraud - Bipartisan House bill introduced November 25th would slam AI-generated fraud with $1-2 million fines and up to three decades behind bars, specifically targeting deepfake scams and government impersonation
Alibaba drops AI glasses that translate and scan prices in real-time - Quark AI glasses launched November 27th pack Qwen model for live translation, object recognition, and instant price lookups, all integrated with Alipay and Taobao shopping
Trump launches AI “Manhattan Project” with $250B push
The story: President Trump signed an executive order November 24th launching the Genesis Mission, a federal initiative to weaponize America’s national laboratories and scientific datasets for AI-driven research. The Department of Energy is building an “American Science and Security Platform” that integrates supercomputers, robotic labs, and the world’s largest collection of federal scientific data to train foundation models. Partners include Microsoft, IBM, OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and quantum computing companies like Quantinuum. The goal? Double American research productivity within a decade across fusion energy, medicine, and materials science. Michael Kratsios, the president’s science adviser, is leading the charge. Think Manhattan Project, but for AI instead of nukes.
What we know:
Executive order signed November 24th, led by White House science adviser Michael Kratsios
Partners include OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, IBM, and Quantinuum
DoE building closed-loop AI platform integrating supercomputers and robotic laboratories
Goal is doubling research productivity within 10 years
Grants private companies unprecedented access to federal scientific datasets
Why it matters: When the White House starts comparing an AI initiative to the Manhattan Project, pay attention. This isn’t a research grant—it’s the government throwing open the vault on decades of scientific data and letting AI companies train models on it. The question is whether giving tech giants access to federal datasets accelerates breakthroughs or just subsidizes their R&D.
Congress wants 30 years in prison for AI fraud
The story: Bipartisan lawmakers introduced the AI Fraud Deterrence Act on November 25th and they’re not messing around. The bill would impose fines between $1-2 million and prison sentences of 20-30 years for criminals using AI-generated audio, video, or text to commit fraud or impersonation. There’s a specific provision targeting people who deepfake government officials—that carries up to $1 million in fines and three years in prison. This comes as AI-generated scams explode, with fraudsters using voice clones to steal money and deepfake videos spreading misinformation. Congress finally decided existing fraud laws don’t cover AI-specific crimes and wrote new ones with serious teeth.
What we know:
Bipartisan bill introduced November 25th in the House
Fraud using AI-generated content: $1-2 million fines, 20-30 years prison
Government official impersonation: $1 million fine, 3 years prison
Covers AI-generated audio, video, and text used for deception
First federal legislation specifically targeting AI-powered fraud
Why it matters: Thirty years in prison is no joke—that’s the kind of sentence you’d get for armed robbery. Congress is signaling that AI fraud isn’t a tech problem, it’s a serious crime. If this passes, every AI company building voice cloning or video generation tech better have bulletproof safeguards, because the feds just made the penalties brutal.
Alibaba drops AI glasses that translate and scan prices in real-time
The story: Alibaba launched Quark AI glasses on November 27th and they’re exactly what sci-fi promised—normal-looking eyewear with live AI running in the background. Powered by Alibaba’s Qwen model, the glasses do real-time translation, recognize objects, scan prices, and connect directly to Alipay and Taobao for instant shopping. Point at a sign in another language, it translates. Point at a product, it tells you the price and where to buy it cheaper. The whole thing is designed to blend into Alibaba’s ecosystem, turning shopping into an augmented reality experience. No word on U.S. availability, but China’s getting them now.
What we know:
Launched November 27th, powered by Alibaba’s Qwen AI model
Real-time translation, object recognition, and price scanning
Direct integration with Alipay payments and Taobao shopping
Designed to look like regular eyewear, not tech goggles
Currently available in China, no U.S. launch announced
Why it matters: Everyone’s been waiting for AI glasses that don’t look ridiculous, and Alibaba just shipped them. The scary part? They’re wired straight into China’s payment and e-commerce infrastructure, meaning Alibaba knows what you’re looking at, buying, and translating in real-time. Cool tech, dystopian implications.
Note: Commentary sections are editorial interpretation, not factual claims