President Trump on Monday signed an executive order establishing the U.S.’ first artificial intelligence initiative, which directs federal agencies to prioritize research funds for AI development to stay ahead of peer competitors such as China.
The new executive order pushes federal agencies to increase individual investments in new technology and foster more partnership with industry, while not specifying that more funds will be allocated for AI-specific research programs.
“Americans have profited tremendously from being the early developers and international leaders in AI. However, as the pace of AI innovation increases around the world, we cannot sit idly by and presume that our leadership is guaranteed,” the White House said in a statement. “We must ensure that advances in AI remain fueled by American ingenuity, reflect American values, and are applied for the benefit of the American people.”
To match peer-competitors increasing focus on AI spending, the EO calls for increased investments in AI research & development, more resources to make federal data and computing resources available to industry and a directive for NIST to development AI governance standards.
“With AI growing at a rapid pace, we need to take action to ensure that our adversaries and near peers aren’t able to target this emerging tech and use it in malicious ways,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the House Homeland Security Committee ranking member, said in a statement. “Today’s announcement demonstrates that President Trump recognizes that the United States cannot coast on our thriving innovation economy to maintain our leadership in AI, but must actively engage so that it does not become a threat to our national and economic security interests.”
The executive order directs does not specify if this initiative will bring in new funding to support the key efforts, or include details on how the administration will enact new technology reforms.
“The White House should provide further direction on how it plans to back the five key areas with allocated funding. Without more funding, we risk falling behind other countries whose government support for AI comes in the form of comprehensive national strategies backed by massive funding that will aid research and build their AI ecosystem,” Josh Elliott, director of Booz Allen Hamilton’s [BAH] analytics and AI division, told Defense Daily.
DoD CIO Dana Deasy said the Pentagon on Feb. 12 plans to release its own AI strategy for accelerating adoption of new capabilities to correspond with the effort laid out in the new executive order.
“The impact of artificial intelligence will extend across the entire department, spanning from operations and training to recruiting and healthcare. The speed and agility with which we will deliver AI capabilities to the warfighter has the potential to change the character of warfare. We must accelerate the adoption of AI-enabled capabilities to strengthen our military, improve effectiveness and efficiency, and enhance the security of our nation,” Deasy said in the statement.