The United States needs to significantly ramp up its Federal research and development (R&D) investments in AI technology to meet “the moment” of today’s rapidly evolving digital age, according to White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Arati Prabhakar.
Recent estimates suggest that, within the Federal R&D enterprise, about $3 to $4 billion a year is being spent on AI. Prabhakar said that figure is “pretty modest” compared to the estimated $800 billion the United States spends each year on R&D.
“Unfortunately, with the budget caps that we’re living under right now, Federal R&D has taken a hit,” Prabhakar said during a July 30 event hosted by the Brookings Institution.
“This is a moment where we have to be serious about investing in Federal R&D and getting it right – both because of the competitive world that we’re living in, but also when I look inside of R&D and Federal R&D and I see the prospects accelerated by AI, we’re going to need it to achieve some of our huge ambitions,” she added. “And I think that’s actually more and more possible with what’s bubbling today.”
Prabhakar noted that while many fear China will pass the United States in R&D spending, the United States has managed to maintain its lead in the technological race because “our private sector has really put the pedal to the metal on R&D spending.”
A report from Stanford University published last year found that in fiscal year 2022, the United States led the world in terms of the total amount of AI private investment. In 2022, the $47.4 billion invested in the United States was roughly 3.5 times the amount invested in the next highest country, China – $13.4 billion.
The report also found that from 2021 to 2022, total AI spending within the Federal government increased from $2.7 billion to $3.3 billion. Since 2017, total spending has increased nearly 2.5 times.
However, some experts such as the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence recommended that the United States needs to dramatically increase non-defense Federal spending on AI research and development, doubling every year to reach $32 billion in 2026.
“That is exactly the direction that we need to move, and it’s a substantial additional investment,” Prabhakar said of the recommendation. “Let me put it in context. First, think about the fact that we spend nearly $200 billion a year on R&D across the Federal government. So, percentage-wise, that’s about the right size, it needs to be a sizable percentage if we’re really going to seize this moment.”
“I also want to put it in the global context because what we know is that every other country is racing to use AI to build a future that reflects their values. Those are not always our values,” she warned.
“I think we’ve done great work to get AI started on the right track for managing risks, 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,” the OSTP director concluded.
