ACCELERATING UNITED STATES R&D: In a time of great power competition, President Trump’s FY 2021 Budget puts America in position to maintain its global leadership in science and technology for generations to come.

President Trump’s FY 2021 Budget invests $142.2 billion in Federal research and development (R&D), a 6 percent increase over his FY 2020 budget.

The President’s Budget prioritizes the Industries of the Future, and commits to double R&D spending in nondefense artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum information science (QIS) by 2022. President Trump is the first President in American history to include AI and QIS as Administration R&D priorities. Since his inauguration, the Trump Administration has supported historic investments in R&D, bold national strategies, a pro-growth regulatory agenda, and a commitment to the American workforce.

Beyond R&D, the FY 2021 Budget includes investments in education and job training that will help create a diverse and highly skilled American workforce to support the Industries of the Future. At the National Science Foundation, an additional $50 million will go toward AI and QIS workforce development, with a focus on community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions.



ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The President’s FY 2021 Budget includes a significant increase in nondefense AI R&D compared to the FY 2020 Budget and is on a path to double nondefense AI R&D by 2022.

This increase brings spending for AI R&D and interdisciplinary research institutes at the National Science Foundation to more than $830 million, which represents a more than 70 percent increase over the FY 2020 budget.

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science will invest $125 million in AI research, a $54 million increase over FY 2020.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide $100 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive grants program to enhance application of advanced technology, including AI, in agricultural systems.

The National Institutes of Health will invest $50 million for new research on chronic diseases using AI and related approaches.

In regards to Defense AI R&D, DARPA is investing $459 million in AI R&D, an increase of $50 million from FY 2020, and the Department of Defense’s Joint AI Center is increasing its budget from $242 million in FY 2020 to $290 million in FY 2021.

BACKGROUND : President Trump launched the American AI Initiative, the United States national strategy for AI leadership, in February 2019. The American AI Initiative directed Federal agencies to prioritize artificial intelligence in their annual budget requests. The FY 2021 budget delivers on this request. The Initiative also called for the development of the first ever agency-by-agency report of nondefense AI R&D spending. This report identified $1 billion in nondefense R&D for FY 2020, establishing a benchmark for measuring nondefense AI R&D budgets in the future.

: President Trump launched the American AI Initiative, the United States national strategy for AI leadership, in February 2019.

QUANTUM INFORMATION SCIENCE: President Trump’s FY 2021 Budget greatly bolsters Federal QIS R&D funding with aggregate investment across key agencies increasing by more than 50 percent relative to the FY 2020 Budget, putting QIS R&D on the path to double by 2022.