The United States needs to overcome budget caps and other spending concerns and “make a big commitment” to research and development in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, according to the White House’s top science adviser.
Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said that given China’s technological rise and the potential for AI to become a disruptive force, increased research and development spending is needed to maintain U.S. competitiveness. He said that.
“Without a role for the federal government to lay the foundation for basic research and educate students who will go into jobs in all these industries, the U.S. research… Development will not progress.”
No matter who wins in November, increasing federal research and development spending will not be easy as concerns about the budget deficit mount, according to analysts who track the issue. With that in mind, Professor Prabhakar touts the importance of this research not only for its important role in advancing technologies in areas such as energy, environment and agriculture, but also for national security.
“It’s a shame that we haven’t done it yet, but this country definitely has to do it…We have to do it big, but there are a lot of really big, big opportunities that we haven’t grabbed yet,” Prabhakar said. he said. .
She supports a proposal by a bipartisan group of senators led by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer to spend $32 billion a year on non-defense AI research. She said this could lead to a breakthrough in drug discovery and help find treatments for “thousands of known diseases for which there is no cure.”
Federal research and development spending increased during the first half of the Biden administration, partly due to concerns that China would overtake the United States in technological leadership. This includes a 2022 law called the CHIPS and Science Act that would authorize $102 billion to the National Science Foundation over five years. year.
But since then, Congress has limited increases in non-defense discretionary spending to no more than 1% annually. In fiscal year 2025, the White House requested $203.7 billion in federal research and development spending, a slight increase from the $200.3 billion enacted in fiscal year 2024. The House of Representatives has proposed $202.7 billion for fiscal year 2025, while the Senate’s proposal is $200.9 billion, according to the American Association. Advances in Science, or AAAS.
The President’s request for the NSF for fiscal year 2025 is much lower than the $16.7 billion that Congress authorized the agency for next fiscal year under the CHIPS Act of 2022. The law aims to increase investment in basic scientific research in the United States and translate it into technological applications. .
Meanwhile, China’s overall R&D spending, including government spending and business spending, grew at an average annual rate of 14% from 2001 to 2021, according to AAAS.
size of government
Joanne Carney, AAAS’ chief government relations officer, said the case for promoting federal research and development is likely to become difficult in the coming months.
“There are issues going on that have nothing to do with science or technology,” Carney said in an interview. “There are concerns about the budget deficit, the size of government, and how much we should be spending on discretionary programs.”
Carney said the debate over provisions of the U.S. tax code implemented by the 2017 law and set to expire at the end of 2025 is likely to “put our concerns on the back burner,” referring to research and development spending.
Carney said that if spending stagnates, “we’re concerned that it sends a signal to not only our competitors but also our allies that we’re not serious about investing in chips, science and the innovation ecosystem.” That’s what I’m sending.”
M. Anthony Mills, director of the Center for Technology, Science, and Energy at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said that in the case of President Donald Trump, “I don’t know what MAGA’s research and development policy will look like.” It’s difficult to know in the abstract.” If Trump is elected president or if either chamber of Congress is controlled by Republicans.
While traditional Republicans are likely to adhere to principles of fiscal conservatism and a hawkish stance on China, “some on the MAGA right want to rethink the role of the state,” Mills said in an interview. said.
Mills said the National Institutes of Health, which receives a significant portion of non-defense research and development funding, is likely to be targeted by Trump-supporting Republicans.
Republican lawmakers argued that the NIH concealed its potential role in funding research in a Chinese lab that may have contributed to the development of the new coronavirus. Anthony Fauci, former director of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is now retired, has denied the allegations. NIH requested a budget of $50.1 billion for fiscal year 2025.
For some pro-Trump Republicans, even defense R&D spending, which has traditionally received strong Republican support, “will end up being controversial, just like the NIH was controversial.” “It’s possible,” Mills said.
Despite bipartisan alarm over China’s rising technological power, more pressing concerns about the role and size of government and budget deficits are likely to drive future federal research and development spending, Mills said. said.
