The government is funding basic research in AI, too. When big technologies like mobile phones, 5G networks and e-commerce arrive, it’s important to get in on the ground floor. That’s why the US government is establishing 12 new research centers, funded with hundreds of millions of dollars, to boost artificial intelligence and quantum computing. By Stephen Shankland @cnet.com.
The Department of Energy’s five quantum computing centers, housed at US national laboratories, are funded by a five year, $625 million project bolstered by $340 million worth of help from companies including IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Applied Materials and Lockheed Martin. The funds came from the $1.2 billion allocated by the National Quantum Initiative Act, which President Donald Trump signed in 2018, but the private sector contributions add some new clout.
The article then deals with:
- Challenging US ‘adversaries’
- Private sector already eager
- Quantum sensors, networks and error correction
The idea is to link government, private and university research to accelerate key areas in the US. It’s the same recipe used for earlier US technology triumphs like the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb in World War II, the Apollo program to send humans to the moon and the military-funded effort to establish what became the internet. Interesting!
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