New Committee Formed For U.S. Government’s AI Research Investments

Biden Administration Commits to Billions in AI Investment

Would you be willing to invest $6 billion for a return of $13 trillion? Of course, you would. And the U.S. government is betting on the same investment odds with their latest news regarding investments into developing AI. And the government seems to be serious about spending tax dollars to update and advance our AI systems, especially on weapons.

Kyle Wiggers is a contributor to venturebeat.com and his story this week covers where, when, and how this money will be invested.

This week, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it’ll form a committee to advise federal agencies on AI research and developments. Called the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee and supported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the White House’s National AI Initiative Office, it’ll focus on a range of issues related to AI, including the current state of U.S. competitiveness and how AI can enhance opportunities for different geographic regions.

The numbers regarding the $6 billion dollar investment came from a Bloomberg Government projection. And it’s just for the year 2021.

Even President Biden has committed a larger part of the 2021 budget to AI research.

The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence estimates the U.S. needs to spend $32 billion over the next few years to win the AI race with China, among other rivals. To achieve this, President Joe Biden has proposed spending 2% of the U.S.’s total economic output — or GDP — on science, up from around 0.7%. That would equate to roughly $418 billion at last year’s GDP level, up from about $146 billion.

And with AI being integrated into nearly every manufacturing profession, and the wide varieties of other professions it is probably a great time for anyone, including the U.S. government to invest as much as they can into AI.

Rising Investments From Private and Government Sources

As we here at Seeflection.com have reported many times, the money that is being applied to developing AI is extraordinary. For example, Wiggers broke it down this way:

“Between 2018 and 2020, U.S. government agencies spent a total of $1.9 billion in AI-related service obligations, representing a 70% increase over the three-year period. R&D spending reached $1.2 billion over the same 2018-to-2020 timeframe…”

“Agencies with substantial AI spending outside the top 10 included the Department of Veterans Affairs ($38 million), the Department of Commerce ($37 million), the Department of Agriculture ($28 million), and the Social Security Administration ($26 million). Spending on autonomy across all agencies totaled $520 million from 2018 to 2020, followed by intelligent systems ($122 million), machine learning ($114 million), augmented reality ($39 million), deep learning ($26 million), and virtual reality ($24 million).”

In the private sector, investors have put $29.5 billion into AI startups, according to data compiled for Protocol by PitchBook. That already dwarfs 2020’s $27.8 billion total.

Another point Wiggers notes is that Google has reneged on a promise not to invest in certain military-based AI. After their employees raised a fuss a few years back, Google agreed to back off on certain projects. But that seems to have come undone. Microsoft and Amazon, for example, were awarded Pentagon contracts to help the military identify objects from a drone and other aerial footage — a project Google announced in 2018 that it would not renew amid widespread employee protests.

There is a lot of information and a lot of your tax dollars being tracked in the article linked below.

read more at venturebeat.com