WASHINGTON--White House officials promised to keep the U.S. in the lead on emerging artificial-intelligence technologies, despite growing competition from China and worries about potential impacts on American workers. At a White House conference on artificial intelligence, Trump technology adviser Michael Kratsios pledged that the administration would make a priority of advancing artificial-intelligence research, through greater research funding and other steps. "America has been the global leader in AI, and the Trump administration will ensure our great nation remains the global leader in AI," said Mr. Kratsios, deputy assistant to the president for technology policy, according to prepared text of a keynote speech. In addition to increased federal funding, Mr. Kratsios raised the possibility that AI researchers might eventually gain expanded access to the government's network of national labs, and also the government's "vast troves of taxpayer-funded data, in ways that don't compromise privacy or security." Artificial intelligence is software that enables computers to emulate human intelligence, handling tasks such as recognizing and processing images or language in applications including autonomous driving.