The US Government Commission is encouraging the Manhattan Project-Style AI initiative
A US congressional committee on Tuesday proposed a Manhattan Project-style initiative to fund the development of AI systems that will be as smart or smarter than humans, amid increasing competition with China over advanced technologies.
The bipartisan U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission emphasized that public-private partnerships are critical in advancing artificial general intelligence, but did not provide specific investment strategies in issuing its annual report.
The Manhattan Project was a large-scale collaboration between the U.S. government and the private sector during World War II that produced the first atomic bombs.
“We have seen throughout history that countries that are the first to benefit from periods of rapid technological change can often cause shifts in the global balance of power,” Jacob Helberg, USCC commissioner and senior adviser to the CEO of software company Palantir, told Reuters.
“China is racing towards AGI… It is critical that we take them extremely seriously,” Helberg added.
Noting that energy infrastructure is a major bottleneck for training large AI models, Helberg suggested that streamlining the data center licensing process could be an example of how a public-private partnership could accelerate AI development.
ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which last week published a proposed blueprint for the US AI strategy, has also called for more government funding for artificial intelligence.
The USCC, established by Congress in 2000, provides annual recommendations on U.S.-China relations. The committee is known for its hawkish policy proposals and aims to guide lawmakers on issues of economic and strategic competition with China.
Other recommendations in this year’s USCC report include rescinding the de minimis trade exemption that allows Chinese goods under $800 (approximately Rs. 67,504) to avoid tariffs with minimal paperwork and inspection, ending preferential treatment of capital gains linked to Chinese companies on government watchlists that require approval. of Chinese involvement in biotechnology companies operating in the US.
Commissioner Kimberly Glas said during a briefing on the report that the immediate elimination of de minimis treatment for e-commerce goods was one of the panel’s most critical recommendations, as the sheer volume of packages makes it difficult for Customs and Border Protection to to stop the flow of dangerous products into the US, including fentanyl chemicals and pill presses.
“To give you an idea of the trajectory: it concerns four million boxes per day, which according to the CBP is an estimated 1.4 billion de minimis shipments in the past year,” said Glas. ‘It’s impossible to check what’s in those boxes.
“In the 1930s, de minimis was created so that we could bring trinkets from abroad without having to pay a tariff. In the e-commerce environment, it has become a channel for Chinese products to become tax-free and unchecked treated.’ she said.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers have also introduced a series of bills aimed at reining in de minimis, especially for shipments from China. But bipartisan cooperation has proven elusive in a tumultuous election year, and the shipping industry and pro-trade groups have lobbied against such measures, arguing it would disrupt e-commerce.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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