Why the U.S. Needs a Moonshot Mentality for AI—Led by the Public Sector

We saw this early on, and in 2019 established the Stanford Institute for Human Centered Artificial Intelligence, embarking on what was seen at the time as a controversial initiative: the need to engage in deep dialogue and partnership with the policy world, especially those in Washington, D.C.

As we’ve done this work, we have seen firsthand the growing gap in the capabilities of, and investment in, the public compared with private sectors when it comes to AI. As it stands now, academia and the public sector lack the computing power and resources necessary to achieve cutting edge breakthroughs in the application of AI.

This leaves the frontiers of AI solely in the hands of the most resourced players—industry and, in particular, Big Tech—and risks a brain drain from academia. Last year alone, less than 40% of new Ph.D.s in AI went into academia and only 1% went into government jobs.

There has been, unquestionably, some progress to address this. In July, Congress introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Create AI Act to give students and researchers access to the resources, data and tools they need to study and develop responsible AI models. One key element is that it establishes the National AI Research Resource (Nairr) that will enable the government to provide much-needed access to large-scale computation and government data sets to academics, nonprofit researchers and startups across the U.S.

And in late October, President Biden signed an executive order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence that demonstrates his administration’s commitment not only to foster a vibrant AI ecosystem but also to harness and govern the technology.

Still lacking

Despite this progress, we remain concerned that there is a disproportionate amount of interest by policy makers in the voices of industry leaders rather than those in academia and civil society. We worry that government officials will create policy based on a limited set of voices instead of focusing on the larger picture, and that the result will sideline the very engine of American innovation. Most alarmingly, we fear America’s longstanding history of creating public goods through science and technology (think the internet, GPS, MRIs) risks being drowned out by increasingly hyperbolic rhetoric.

Some of this rhetoric comes as celebrity Silicon Valley CEOs have descended upon Washington to share their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges of AI.

On the surface, this is a positive development. We now hear talk of regulation from the most hard-core entrepreneurs, and government officials speak about the latest generative AI technology with an urgency reminiscent of debates about infrastructure, healthcare and taxes.

But we worry that policy makers and the government are hearing only the voices of the most powerful, concentrated industry groups and stakeholders (tech execs at elite companies). The concern is that they are building products and services that are business- and profit-focused. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the problem is that those who might approach the technology from a different angle don’t have the computing power and resources to pursue their visions.

A call to action

So what needs to happen? President Biden has set the stage, and with all this attention, it’s time for Congress to act. They need to pass the Create AI Act, adhere to the elements called on by the new executive order, and invest more in the public sector to ensure America’s leadership in creating AI technology steeped in the values we stand for. We also encourage an investment in human capital to bring more talent to the U.S. to work in the field of AI within academia and the government.

But why does this matter? Because this technology isn’t just good for optimizing ad revenue for technology companies, but can fuel the next generation of scientific discovery, ranging from nuclear fusion to curing cancer.

Furthermore, to truly understand this technology, including its sometimes unpredictable emergent capabilities and behaviors, public-sector researchers urgently need to replicate and examine the under-the-hood architecture of these models. That’s why government research labs need to take a larger role in AI.

And last (but not least), government agencies (such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology) and academic institutions should play a leading role in providing trustworthy assessments and benchmarking of these advanced technologies, so the American public has a trusted source to learn what they can and can’t do. Big tech companies can’t be left to govern themselves, and it’s critical there is an outside body checking their progress.

The other area is talent. The president’s executive order also outlines a significant push to draw much-needed technical talent to the U.S. by identifying paths to attract, recruit and retain foreign AI talent. This will be crucial to advance the field. On the government side, we need to infuse our political ecosystem with technical expertise to make informed and responsible decisions on AI policy.

In short, to effect change we need a moonshot mentality. In 2024, we need the government to galvanize a broad investment in AI that reflects America’s bold innovative spirit, backed by strong public-sector infrastructure.

AI isn’t just a bag of clever products. It has tremendous potential to extend our lives, improve our societies and save our planet. Policy makers need to empower the public sector to play a vital leadership role in developing responsible AI that reflects the American values that our Constitution and Bill of Rights have etched into our nation’s DNA.

Fei-Fei Li and John Etchemendy are the founding co-directors of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Fei-Fei Li is the author of “The Worlds I See: Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI.” They can be reached at reports@wsj.com.