The U.S. could face heightened national security threats and lose its economic edge if the government doesn't step up its game when it comes to artificial intelligence, according to a pair of oversight lawmakers. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., on Tuesday published a report detailing the current state of the country's artificial intelligence ecosystem and offering recommendations for how government could steer and accomodate the technology's development in the years ahead. The report is based on a series of hearings examining the government's role in advancing AI hosted earlier this year by the House Oversight Subcommittee on Information Technology, on which Hurd chairs and Kelly serves as ranking member. "[Artificial intelligence] is a topic that's going to transcend and be important beyond this Congress," Hurd said Tuesday during a call with reporters. "I think this report [will] lay a foundation for future focus by Congress and other parts of the government."

John Markoff recently reported in the New York Times, "In its quest to maintain a United States military advantage, the Pentagon is aggressively turning to Silicon Valley's hottest technology -- artificial intelligence. On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter made his fourth trip to the tech industry's heartland since being named to his post last year. Before that, it had been 20 years since a defense secretary had visited the area, he noted in a speech at a Defense Department research facility near Google's headquarters. The Pentagon's intense interest in A.I. -- and by connection the Silicon Valley companies specializing in that technology -- has grown out of the'Third Offset' strategy articulated by Mr. Carter last fall. Concerned about the re-emergence of China and Russia as military competitors, he stated that computer-based, high-tech weapons would give the American military an edge in the future."