Google is urging Americans to pay serious attention to China’s research and development efforts and to understand that the Chinese Communist Party does not exclusively rely upon theft.
Top artificial intelligence technologists and researchers flocked to Washington on Wednesday eager to learn more about the new Trump administration’s plans to ensure America wins the global AI race.
Ahead of President Trump’s formal rollout, a Google executive told an assembly of scientists and technologists that China is a formidable foe they all need to reckon with.
Google Public Sector’s Josh Marcuse, a former Pentagon official, told the Special Competitive Studies Project’s gathering that it is wrong to think China’s progress is only attributable to stolen gains.
“China has really moved to a very different footing and they have an incredibly vibrant [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] ecosystem and they’re a very large population,” Mr. Marcuse said at the AI+ Science Summit. “They are actually increasingly entrepreneurial and they’re increasingly original.”
Such novel approaches include brain-inspired approaches to grow AI systems into a new intelligence matching humans’ abilities, also referred to as artificial general intelligence. These efforts include Chinese researchers’ work to literally blend man and machine, The Washington Times has learned.
America’s success against its communist competitors is not guaranteed. Mr. Marcuse, who oversees Google’s strategic initiatives, urged American scientists to wake up to China’s work.
“I think that we all need to be really girded for a very intense competition where America needs to push harder to become the best version of ourselves as a society that celebrates and loves science and scientists,” he said.
The Trump administration has moved quickly to chart a new AI agenda for the federal government.
Mr. Trump unveiled on Wednesday his new AI Action Plan designed to win the AI race, which the White House said would “usher in a new golden age of human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security for the American people.”
The plan includes 90 policy actions the administration will take to accelerate innovation, build AI infrastructure, and take a lead role in international security and diplomacy surrounding the tech.
These policy items include such things as expediting permits for semiconductor chip fabricators and data centers, new AI export control mechanisms and removing regulations affecting AI development and deployment.
A White House statement also said a forthcoming update to federal procurement rules will seek to ensure the government only works with companies making large language models that uphold free speech and avoid ideological bias.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios said his team is moving urgently to implement the AI plan.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the plan makes clear that the whole world should run on American technology as the “technological gold standard.”
“Winning the AI race is non-negotiable,” Mr. Rubio said in a statement. “America must continue to be the dominant force in artificial intelligence to promote prosperity and protect our economic and national security.”
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.