The White House and President Donald Trump are creating an artificial intelligence task force.
Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios announced the new committee on Thursday in Washington, D.C., during an AI summit with government officials, members of academia, and several companies like Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon (AMZN), according to news site FedScoop.
The new Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence will operate under the National Science and Technology Council and consist of several federal officials from various government agencies like the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the report said.
“As artificial intelligence transforms everything from agriculture to manufacturing to transportation, the potential for AI remains breathtaking,” Kratsios said in prepared remarks. “But we cannot be passive. To realize the full potential of AI for the American people, it will require the combined efforts of industry, academia, and government.”
One of the goals of the new committee will involve determining how much the U.S. Should prioritize and invest in AI technologies, according to The Hill.
Ian Buck, the vice president of computer chip maker Nvidia’s datacenter unit, attended the meeting and said in a blog post that he will be urging the government to increase funding in AI-related technologies and initiatives.
“There’s simply no replacement for the federal government significantly increasing support for fundamental research to bolster university research,” Buck wrote. “Funding drives research. Research, in turn, drives innovation, from startups to multinationals.”
Dean Garfield, the CEO of the trade association Information Technology Industry Council, commended the new AI task force in a statement.
“The White House’s new artificial intelligence advisory committee is a great first step to forge better collaboration between industry, government, and academia,” Garfield said. “The American people and workforce deserve as much.”
The creation of the new committee comes amid increasing competition from world governments to be seen as leaders in AI.
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In late April, the United Kingdom said it would spend more than $1.3 billion on a multi-year initiative to foster research in the country, invest in local businesses that specialize in data crunching, and attract more outside companies to create corporate outposts in the country.
China has also said that it aims to be the world’s leader in AI technologies by 2030.
