ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The President’s FY 2021 Budget includes a significant increase in nondefense AI R&D compared to the FY 2020 Budget and is on a path to double nondefense AI R&D by 2022.
- This increase brings spending for AI R&D and interdisciplinary research institutes at the National Science Foundation to more than $830 million, which represents a more than 70 percent increase over the FY 2020 budget.
- The Department of Energy’s Office of Science will invest $125 million in AI research, a $54 million increase over FY 2020.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide $100 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program to enhance application of advanced technology, including AI, in agricultural systems.
- The National Institutes of Health will invest $50 million for new research on chronic diseases using AI and related approaches.
- In regards to Defense AI R&D, DARPA is investing $459 million in AI R&D, an increase of $50 million from FY 2020, and the Department of Defense’s Joint AI Center is increasing its budget from $242 million in FY 2020 to $290 million in FY 2021.