By Sara Castellanos
Artificial intelligence and quantum information science are expected to remain key priorities for the U.S. under a Joe Biden presidency, but his spending and regulatory approaches are expected to differ from that of President Trump.
The U.S. has underinvested in research and development efforts relative to historical norms and peer nations on a per capita basis, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. Total federal R&D spending as a share of gross domestic product averaged 1.52% a year from 1960 to 1980 but had fallen to 0.71% of GDP by 2018, according to a report last year by the nonpartisan research and educational institute.
In August, the Trump administration said it was on track to meet its commitment of roughly doubling nondefense research and development spending on AI and quantum information sciences between 2020 and 2022. The White House in February outlined a plan for annual spending on AI to rise to more than $2 billion between 2020 and 2022, and funding for quantum information science to increase to $860 million over that period. Quantum information science is an area of study that includes quantum-based cryptography, communication and quantum computing.
"Both parties realize we need to be competitive in these areas," said Ray Wang, an analyst with Constellation Research Inc., a research and advisory firm.
The Biden administration is expected to invest more money in AI and quantum information science, in part because overall spending on research and development is expected to be higher, said Robert D. Atkinson, president of the ITIF.
The Biden campaign, which didn't respond to a request for comment, is proposing innovation funding of $300 billion over four years, in addition to federal research and development spending, in part to remain competitive with China. That money would be spent in part on efforts to spur advances in technologies such as AI, quantum computing, clean energy and 5G, according to the campaign's website.
The Trump administration's 2020 budget provides $134.1 billion for total federal research and development. The administration proposed $142.2 billion in total federal research and development spending for fiscal year 2021.
On the regulatory front, Mr. Atkinson said a Biden administration would bring a shift in approach. For example, it may require AI algorithms to be explainable and transparent when used in business, he said. The Trump administration has preferred a light-touch approach toward regulation to avoid holding back U.S. leadership in the field.
"If you're in the business of developing, adopting or using AI, that could be somewhat problematic," Mr. Atkinson said.
Two dozen prominent computer scientists signed a letter in September endorsing Mr. Biden, in part because of his campaign's proposals on immigration policy. Among the signatories were Yann LeCun, chief artificial intelligence scientist at Facebook Inc., and Leslie Valiant, professor of computer science and applied mathematics at Harvard University.
The Biden administration will likely support initiatives that have already garnered bipartisan support, such as research and development for large-scale quantum communication networks, according to Prineha Narang, assistant professor of computational materials science at Harvard University and chief technology officer of startup Aliro Quantum. She said the Trump administration's investments in quantum information science have been "instrumental in driving progress" to help the U.S. remain competitive.
In July, a group led by the U.S. Department of Energy and the University of Chicago announced plans to develop a nationwide quantum internet that could be functional in about a decade. The project has the potential to securely transmit sensitive information related to national security and financial services and would be funded by a portion of the $1.275 billion budget allocated as part of President Trump's National Quantum Initiative, an effort to accelerate research and development in quantum information science.
Mr. Atkinson at ITIF said U.S. military and national security officials have an interest in pushing for investments in quantum information science, in part because of cybersecurity concerns.
Cutting-edge technologies such as AI and quantum computing have the ability to "catalyze economic growth and unlock new areas of discovery and opportunity," said Dario Gil, director of IBM Research and a member of the National Science Board. "U.S. policy must be a catalyst and a champion of this movement to ensure American leadership, security and prosperity," he said in an email.
Write to Sara Castellanos at sara.castellanos@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-09-20 1314ET
