U.S. top science chief says federal AI R&D spending lagging
While the U.S. spends billions on broader R&D efforts annually, the Office of Science and Technology Policy is advocating for increased funding for AI research.
The U.S. government has made addressing risks from artificial intelligence front and center, from the AI Bill of Rights to President Joe Biden's executive order on AI. However, to harness the technology's benefits, the U.S. also needs to invest in federal AI research and development.
That's according to Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Due to the abrupt rise in popularity of generative AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT starting in 2022, companies including Microsoft, Google and Amazon have put the "pedal to the metal" on R&D spending, she said during a panel discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution. But there hasn't been a significant surge in federal AI R&D in contrast to how much big tech companies are investing, Prabhakar said.
It's critical that the U.S. invests in its own AI research due to the implications for improving government operations, but also achieving larger goals for the country, like assessing climate risks and making advances in healthcare, she said.
"We've done great work to get AI started on the right track for managing risks," Prabhakar said. "But we have not yet as a country made the significant investments it's going to take in R&D to realize these huge benefits."
Why federal AI R&D matters
Prabhakar said federal R&D is the "foundation for so much that shapes the world we are in." She pointed to examples of technologies resulting from federal R&D, including GPS, internet livestream, solar panels and even non-technologies like the COVID-19 vaccines.
While significant private investment in AI is driving the discourse around the technology, Prabhakar said it's federal R&D that will support long-term research into the technology. And federal R&D will study it for the entirety of the U.S., rather than the handful of big tech companies spending millions on AI.
We have not yet as a country made the significant investments it's going to take in R&D to realize these huge benefits.
Arati PrabhakarDirector, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Prabhakar said Congress has to approve funding for AI R&D, which will help the nation compete with China, a country that has heavily invested in this area.
"I want us to be aggressive about managing the risks and to be aggressive about seizing the benefits," she said. "I think they go hand in hand."
Prabhakar said OSTP launched a project called AI Aspirations, which brings together leaders from the federal government, industry and Congress to craft visions for how AI can benefit the country. One of those projects includes using AI to develop new sustainable materials for semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. in years rather than decades.
Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said he supports Prabhakar's strong claim for public investment in AI to complement big tech's undertakings.
"I don't believe a passive approach that relies too heavily on the private sector to drive innovation and determine research agendas will win the strategic competition we face, but also leverage these technologies sufficiently for the national good," he said during the panel discussion.
Makenzie Holland is a senior news writer covering big tech and federal regulation. Prior to joining TechTarget Editorial, she was a general assignment reporter for the Wilmington StarNews and a crime and education reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer.
