Schumer proposes $100B tech ‘moon shot’ versus China

WASHINGTON ― With an eye on China , the U.S. Senate’s top Democrat is floating plans for a new, deep-pocketed agency to invest $100 billion into cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing , robotics and fifth-generation networking known as 5G .

Speaking at a conference of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intellgence on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., floated his plans for a new technology-focused subsidiary of the National Science Foundation, which would work with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which would be the foundation’s analogue within the Defense Department.

The proposed agency would invest $100 billion over five years into universities, companies or other specialized government agencies “in the Defense Department or not,” as well as individual academic researchers, Schumer explained.

“This should not be a partisan issue, this is about the future of America, this should not be a political issue,” he said. “This should be of the same importance as putting a man on the moon.”

To become law, the idea would have to pass Congress and get the president’s signature. According to Schumer, his “discussion draft” has support from people close to President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., but it’s “thus far been unable to get their full-throated support.”

The comments come as the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence — chartered by Congress and led by Eric Schmidt , the former head of Google parent Alphabet, and Bob Work , the former deputy secretary of defense — warned there’s too much red tape and not enough federal investment in research and development funding for computer science.

“The kind of research that needs to be done would have a long revenue stream,” Schumer said. “We will do better than the Chinese government, dollar-for-dollar, in investing in AI, but if they outspend us 3-, 4-, 5-to-1 ― which they are doing now ― we’ll fall behind in five or 10 years and rue the day.”

Invoking the space race of the 1960s, Schumer stressed that America must lead in AI innovation, particularly in comparison to China, which he said runs an oppressive surveillance state. America’s top spot, he added, would to promote a future of privacy rights, individual liberty and democratic values.

“We need to match and exceed their level of commitment," Schumer said of China, “which thus far we have not done.”

Joe Gould was the senior Pentagon reporter for Defense News, covering the intersection of national security policy, politics and the defense industry. He had previously served as Congress reporter.

华盛顿——着眼于中国，美国参议院民主党领袖正在酝酿一项计划，拟成立一个资金雄厚的新机构，投资 1000 亿美元用于人工智能、量子计算、机器人技术和第五代网络（5G）等尖端技术。

周二，参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默（纽约州）在国家人工智能安全委员会会议上发表讲话，提出了他关于成立国家科学基金会下属一家专注于技术的子公司的计划，该子公司将与国防高级研究计划局合作，后者将是国防部内与国家科学基金会类似的机构。

舒默解释说，拟议中的机构将在五年内向大学、公司或其他专门的政府机构（无论是否隶属于国防部）以及个人学术研究人员投资 1000 亿美元。

“这不应该是一个党派问题，这关乎美国的未来，这不应该是一个政治问题，”他说。“这件事的重要性应该与载人登月同等重要。”

这项提案要想成为法律，必须获得国会通过并由总统签署。据舒默称，他的“讨论稿”得到了与唐纳德·特朗普总统和参议院多数党领袖、肯塔基州共和党参议员米奇·麦康奈尔关系密切的人士的支持，但“迄今为止，尚未获得他们的全力支持”。

此前，由国会授权成立、谷歌母公司Alphabet前首席执行官埃里克·施密特和前国防部副部长鲍勃·沃克领导的国家人工智能安全委员会警告称，计算机科学领域的研发资金投入不足，而繁文缛节却太多。

舒默说：“我们需要开展的这类研究将带来长期的收益。在人工智能领域的投资方面，我们每投入一美元就能比中国政府做得更好，但如果他们的投入是我们的三倍、四倍甚至五倍——而他们现在正是如此——那么五到十年后，我们就会落后，并为此后悔莫及。”

舒默援引上世纪60年代的太空竞赛，强调美国必须在人工智能创新领域保持领先地位，尤其是在与他所说的实行高压监控的中国相比时。他补充说，美国若能占据领先地位，就必须致力于推动一个保障隐私权、个人自由和民主价值观的未来。

舒默谈到中国时说：“我们需要达到甚至超过他们的投入水平，但到目前为止我们还没有做到这一点。”

乔·古尔德是《防务新闻》的资深五角大楼记者，负责报道国家安全政策、政治和国防工业的交汇点。他此前曾担任国会记者。