On February 11, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 13859, which established the American Artificial Intelligence (AI) Initiative. The EO was in response to Chinese President Xi Jinping announcing that Beijing would invest as much as $150B to become a global leader in AI.
The first directive in the Executive Order was for Federal agencies to prioritize AI research and development (R&D) in their annual budgeting and planning process. Today, the administration released an updated research and development plan for AI technologies that adds to the strategy first published by the Obama Administration in 2016. The National AI R&D Strategic Plan: 2019 Update highlights the key priorities for Federal investment in AI R&D.
In addition to reaffirming the seven strategies listed in 2016, the plan adds an eighth element calling for expanding public-private partnerships to accelerate advances in artificial intelligence, recognizing that the federal government cannot direct the national effort without collaborating with industry.
The eight strategies included in the plan are:
- Make long-term investments in artificial intelligence research.
- Develop effective methods for human-machine collaboration.
- Understand and address ethical, legal and social implications of the technologies.
- Ensure safety and security of systems.
- Share federal, public data for training and testing of technologies.
- Measure and evaluate technologies using standards.
- Understand national workforce needs.
- Expand public-private partnerships.
National Science and Technology Council National AI R&D Strategic Plan