When Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) conducts a high-energy-density physics experiment, a tremendous amount of high value data is generated in the blink of an eye. LLNL uses AI data tools to manage this data, using them to improve predictive modeling capabilities and transform optics inspection. To boost its AI capabilities, LLNL and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have partnered to develop an AI-driven troubleshooting and reliability system for NIF. AT NIF, the team recently completed the first phase of integrating generative AI capabilities into operations. According to LLNL director Kim Budil, leveraging the lab’s extensive historical data through advanced AI techniques allows the lab to solve problems faster and pave the way for predictive maintenance and more efficient operations in the future. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Amazon Web Services have partnered to leverage the power of AI to enhance operations at the National Ignition Facility. Courtesy of LLNL/Jason Laurea. The initiative is expected to boost operational efficiency at NIF, which achieved fusion ignition in December 2022. LLNL has repeated ignition seven times since the milestone achievement, obtaining higher fusion yields in the process. AI-driven cognitive simulation, a combination of high-performance computing and machine learning, was a key factor in achieving ignition. The AI integration project is designed to tackle two key challenges: enabling the real-time resolution of anomalies to ensure the reliability of mission-critical operations while easing growing operational demands. By addressing these areas, the project aims to enhance efficiency, improve responsiveness and support NIF operations into the 2040s and beyond. Phase one implementation has deployed advanced semantic search capabilities across NIF’s comprehensive operational history, encompassing more than 98,000 archived problem logs spanning 22 years of operations. This extensive dataset includes detailed documentation of symptoms, causes and corrective actions taken across all NIF systems. AWS is implementing the project, which was initiated from an October 2024 white paper by NIF Facility Management. The solution leverages AWS’ latest generative AI services, featuring intelligent search, summarized large-language-model response and retrieval-augmented generation chatbot functionality using Amazon SageMaker.