A recent report from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy calls for more funding of individual scientists and greater use of artificial intelligence (AI), WSJ reports (open copy). The goal is to speed technological progress as part of competition with China. These directives will help guide the roughly 200 billion dollar annual federal research and development budget for the remainder of the president’s term.
The new approach gives priority to programs such as fellowships and awards that support people directly rather than large universities. Universities that depend heavily on federal grants could lose influence under this shift. A proposed rule from the Office of Management and Budget would also let political appointees exercise more control over grants.
Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, has said that research funding has grown stagnant by supporting the same work in the same ways at the same institutions for decades. The administration also argues that too much time is spent on bureaucracy at both government agencies and universities. Under the new plan, individual researchers at universities would receive funding more directly, reducing the role of the colleges themselves. In the current system, universities often receive the money first.
Focus on AI and national goals
The guidance stresses that agencies should treat AI as a central instrument for scientific discovery rather than a simple add-on tool. The Genesis Mission is a program that brings together the Energy Department’s scientific knowledge and powerful computers with private companies and researchers to apply AI to difficult research problems. The administration has also set ambitious targets, including the deployment of a powerful quantum computer by 2028. Another aim is to have construction under way on ten new large nuclear reactors by 2030 in order to expand electricity production.
Some critics have noted that AI systems can make mistakes and that placing too much emphasis on them could narrow the kinds of studies researchers choose to pursue.