White House Announces $1 Billion Plan to Create AI, Quantum Institutes

The National Science Foundation and other federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $140 million in seven institutes focused on AI, while the Energy Department will supervise and invest $625 million in the five institutes focused on quantum information sciences, which includes quantum computing. The DOE's investment will be matched by $300 million in private contributions, part of which comes in the form of technology-services donations from International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., and other companies. The news comes on the heels of the Trump administration's proposal to spend about 30% more in the 2021 nondefense budget for artificial intelligence and quantum information science. It also coincides with competitive pressure from China and other countries that are investing in these emerging technologies. China is adopting AI at a faster rate than the U.S. and the European Union, according to a 2019 report released by the Center for Data Innovation, a nonpartisan research institute.