BACKGROUND PRESS CALL
BY SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
ON THE NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Via Teleconference
10:33 A.M. EDT
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining this background briefing on the National Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technologies.
Today, we have [senior administration officials]. This call is embargoed until 11:00 a.m., when the strategy will be released, and is attributable, on background, to senior administration officials.
Our senior administration officials will give brief remarks and then we’ll go into Q&A. With that, I will turn it over to [senior administration official].
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Good morning. This morning, President Trump is releasing the National Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technologies, which outlines how the United States will promote and protect our competitive edge in a wide range of technologies that are critical to U.S. national security and economic prosperity.
A non-exhaustive list, but these -- as an example, these include fields like artificial intelligence, energy, quantum information science, communication and networking technologies, semiconductors, and space technologies.
As our competitors and adversaries mobilize vast resources in these fields, American leadership in science and technology is more important now than ever and it’s vital to our long-term economic security and national security.
The United States will no longer turn a blind eye to the tactics of countries like the People’s Republic of China and Russia, who steal technology, coerce companies into handing over intellectual property, undercut free and fair markets, and surreptitiously divert emerging civilian technology to build up their militaries. And we will do this in conjunction with our partners, allies, and likeminded nations.
The administration continues to defend our industry, address unfair practices, and create a level playing field for the American worker. This strategy lays the foundation for the United States to continue to turn ideas into innovations, transform discoveries into successful commercial products and companies, and protect and enhance the American way of life for many years to come.
There are two key pillars to this strategy. The first one is to promote the national security innovation base, and two is to protect our technology advantage.
And, with that, I’ll turn it over to my colleague.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Hi. Good morning. The Trump administration has long recognized the importance of the two pillars that are articulated by the national strategy: Protecting our technology advantage and promoting the U.S. national security innovation base. Both approaches are imperative to strengthening our leadership in critical and emerging technologies far into the future.
The “Promote” pillar of the strategy reflects the administration’s focus on investing in priority research and development; in developing a high-quality scientific and technology workforce; in reducing burdensome regulation that inhibit innovation and industry growth; in leading the development of worldwide technology norms that reflect democratic values; and encouraging public-private partnerships.
Over the past three and a half years, the Trump administration has issued technology -- a number of technology-specific national strategies, like the American AI Initiative and the National Quantum Initiative, which has included significant investments in research and development, improvements in workforce development, a focus on reducing regulatory burden, and expanding international engagement. And we’ve made historic progress in these two areas, especially in AI and quantum.
The President, last February, committed to doubling AI and Quantum R&D spending over two years. The U.S. also led the world in releasing the first-ever AI regulatory principles for industry.
Additionally, the U.S. recently signed its first -- the first-ever bilateral AI agreement with the UK and the first-ever bilateral quantum agreement with Japan.
This strategy released today extracts the key priorities that are common to our existing technology-specific strategies and show that they are broadly relevant for promoting our nation’s leadership in any critical and emerging technology area.
Moving forward, the strategy provides a clear vision for the U.S. approach across a broad range of critical and emerging technologies, directly tied to our future national security. It articulates the areas viewed as most strategically important and provides a guiding approach for the rest of the federal government, the U.S. research and innovation community, and our allies around the world as we promote and protect our technology advantage.
Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Excellent. Moderator, we’ll go ahead and open it up for questions.
Q Yes. Hi. Thanks for taking the call. Can you outline some specifics that are in the strategy, specifically as it relates to, say, competing better against Chinese technological efforts, particularly in AI? Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah. I can speak first to the promote side of the -- of the “promote and protect” two pillars. I think what is -- the best parts of the American AI Initiative where sort of incorporated. You can see them incorporated into this larger national strategy.
I think the four key areas that you can see relating to artificial intelligence that are reflected in this strategy are, one, a focus on research and development. And then, again, you know, we've already made huge strides. So the President announcing a doubling in AI R&D just last February.
The second piece, which is reflected in this strategy, is that of reducing our regulatory burden or removing regulatory barriers to AI innovation here in the United States. Earlier this year, the United States released the first-ever in the world AI regulatory guidance for industry to allow AI to develop quickly here in the United States but also protecting the importance of liberties here in the U.S.
The third thing you will see in this strategy, which is (inaudible) artificial intelligence, is -- it is commitment to the development of high-quality science and technology workforce. And the President took action in the executive order for AI a couple of years in directing federal agencies to prioritize AI grants and fellowships.
And the fourth area, which you will see on the “Promote” side related to AI, is the importance of partnering with our like-minded allies around the world to ensure that this particular technology is developed that’s underpinned by American values.
As many as you know, the CCP is twisting technology, particularly around AI, to -- in ways that do not in any way reflect the way the United States uses these things. So when AI is used to imprison ethnic minorities, used to surveil populations, this is not the vision that the U.S. sees for artificial intelligence, and that’s why we’ve partnered with like-minded nations in (inaudible) like the Global Partnership on AI, which was launched out of the technology G7 ministerial earlier this year, hosted in the United States. And also, the U.S. was the leading partner in the OECD in signing on and creating the first-ever OECD AI principle.
So those core tenets of the American AI Initiative are based into this larger strategy and are ones that can be used across a number of technologies.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And I’ll just say a word about pillar two, applicable to AI, but also applicable to other critical technologies.
A list of actions, but three that I want to highlight: One is the whole-of-government approach. While Commerce has the lead on export control -- has and will continue -- this comprehensive strategy brings the power of the interagency to that problem so that you have the different parts -- department agencies of the federal government coordinating in order to ensure the best possible look whole-of-government for protecting those critical technologies.
Second is secure supply chain, which is critical in AI and many other forms of information technology. Because if your supply chain is not critical, you're going to be subject to the list of actions of potentially unfriendly actors.
And then the third -- and can't stress this enough: We talked about this being something that’s done with partners and allies and like-minded nations. The U.S. has some robust procedures, and one that comes to mind is the CFIUS procedure that controls the level of foreign investment in critical technologies. We want to encourage our like-minded partners and allies, who don’t already have robust systems for controlling outside investments and ensuring that it doesn’t pose a security threat -- we want to work with our partners and allies to makes sure that they have those same kind of robust systems in place.
Q Hi. Thanks so much for holding the briefing. How does this whole-of-government strategy interact with Commerce’s implementation of the Export Control Reform Act, specifically identifying foundational and emerging technologies? And will the technologies listed in this report, will that have any impact on how CFIUS takes critical technologies into account?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I would just say that this builds on the Department of Commerce’s efforts in that implementation.
And when I talked about the whole-of-government approach and the coordination across the interagency, before this strategy, you had both Commerce and other departments and agencies that were each doing their own protecting and promoting in the technology that they had individually identified.
This strategy is a product of bringing all of those departments and agencies together in order to make sure we had a common picture and a common set of priorities so that, again, the government would function as a team across those departments and agencies to make sure that we’re focusing on those most critical technologies for the future.
Q Yeah. Thank you so much. I just wanted to drill down a little bit on Brett’s question. So did this imply any policy changes to the current process for reviewing export controls in Commerce? You mentioned coordinating with the interagency. Will that expert control review process in Commerce change as a result of this?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So I would say it would not -- this strategy, no. And any of the details -- certainly Commerce already engages in interagency consultation for their actions. But any of the details of that, I would defer to Commerce Department.
Q Hi. My question is: Is there going -- could you give examples of some of your partners for the education of the future workforce? And are there any changes to where the United States would be recruiting students from other countries to learn about information technology, such as China?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I think on the train -- on the workforce question, I think we've made a number of strides over the last few years, (inaudible) develop an American workforce which is high quality in science and technology literacy, and can -- able to apply those skills to ensuring and driving their (inaudible) the U.S. needs these critical and emerging technologies.
You know, actions we have taken include, as I mentioned, a call from the President by executive order to prioritize artificial intelligence in grants and fellowships across the agencies. And you’re seeing this with grant and fellowships being given out by departments in places like the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation.
The second example that I would point you to is an effort the administration has taken on quantum education. A few weeks ago, we announced the Q-12 Partnership, which is the first of its kind in the world, actually, to start training students from the elementary, middle school, and high school ages to become -- to understand the basics that underpin quantum information science, and can encourage them to sort of pursue careers in that domain later in their academic pursuits. And that effort is led by the National Science Foundation.
The National Science Foundation has also been tasked with putting out a first curriculum around quantum information science for middle and high school students, and that’s something that they're working with the community on.
So we continue to try to find ways to focus on this workforce issue, going all the way back, actually, to 2017. The President signed a (inaudible) memorandum in that year, and allocated at least $200 million towards STEM-related education with a focus on computer science. And the commitment of the administration after that has only continued.
The last piece, which I think is very relevant and important is the administration’s effort around the Council of the American Worker. And what's critical is that as we develop the workforce of the future, it’s not just about creating the next great PhD scientist who can make (inaudible) bigger technology, but it’s also retraining and reskilling (inaudible) Americans to take advantage of these particular technologies in their domain.
So our emphasis on workforce training and learning and vocational schools make a huge difference in preparing Americans for these 21st century jobs.
Q Yes, hi. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to ask if -- you know, how does this strategy gel with the larger administration’s sort of strategy of curtailing, you know, the best talents around the world?
And in the past, where American innovation, science, and technology has been driven quite a bit by foreign students coming here, but it seems as if the administration is really trying to choke off that supply line of talented people from around the world, but at the same time, you’re saying, you know, this strategy is promoting American leadership and innovation. How do those two things gel with each other?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I would just kind of take issue with the premise. I don’t believe that there’s any administration policy trying to keep talented people out of the country. We’re promoting science and technology education across the nation. And --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, if anything, it’s actually the opposite. The administration has been abundantly clear in multiple public statements that we encourage the best and brightest to come to the United States. And we would like an immigration policy which supports that. We want it underpinned by a merit-based system. So I think that’s what the administration will be and has been pursuing.
Q Yes, thank you guys for doing the call. I just wanted to clear. I know you mentioned the doubling of R&D for, I think, quantum and AI, last year. Is there any new funding that’s being announced at this national strategy? And are there any punitive measures? You know, you mentioned China and Russia, related to these -- you know, I guess, competition on the IP front. Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So the strategy announcement doesn’t include specific announcements of funding or announcements of any sanction or similar measures, but it -- what it does signal is a new coordination among agencies so that items like that in the future, both to promote and to protect, will be better synchronized across the different parts of the government.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, and I would just say: Stay tuned. The budget rollout happens in February of next year, and that’s where you’ll be seeing kind of how we’re thinking about dollars associated with our emerging technology.
In recent news, you may have seen an announcement at the White House of over a billion dollars in funding for AI and quantum centers around the world. So around -- sorry, around the United States. And that’s a great example of something that this particular strategy is attempting to pursue. And that is one where we bring the entire American scientific and technology ecosystem together and try and find a (inaudible) discovery.
It’s not something the federal government can do alone, and these institutes are places where the federal government could partner with industry and academia to drive these next generations of discoveries, and that was an announcement made by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation a couple of months ago.
Q Thank you for doing this. I just wanted to ask if this also includes anything on 5G security and encryption. Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So one of the -- one of the technologies that is included in the strategy is communications and networking technology. So again, if you think about the strategy, it’s an overarching, broad umbrella framework that could be used to drive individual strategies for particular technologies.
For more details on 5G, I would point you to the Secure 5G National Strategy that was released earlier by the White House.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: All right. Thank you everyone for joining today’s call. As a reminder, this call is attributable on background to senior administration officials.
The call has now concluded, and the embargo will be lifted at 11:00 a.m., which is seven minutes from now, when the strategy is released.
END 10:53 A.M. EDT |
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