AI R&D in the FY 2024 NITRD Budget Supplement

Last week, I provided an overview of the NITRD Budget Supplement, the portion of the president’s budget request detailing federal research and development funding and initiatives. Activities in the supplement may have related opportunities for contractors to pursue. This week, I’d like to focus on the AI portion of the supplement, which represents 28% of the $10.9B NITRD supplement.

FY 2024 AI R&D Landscape

Funding for AI R&D continues to increase year over year at federal agencies. This comes as no surprise given the technology’s magnitude of impact and application to various federal missions. The increased funding is also driven by meeting FY 2024 Biden Administration R&D priorities. For example, advances in AI help to produce trustworthy and responsible AI to support technology transfer, AI can be used to understand and predict the Earth to inform climate change impacts, and AI is helping researchers to automate and share data generated by biological events.

AI funding in FY 2024 exists throughout all 12 of NITRD’s Program Component Areas (PCAs). As a reminder, the PCAs are categories of R&D focus areas that NITRD member agencies support.

The majority of AI spending resides in the AI PCA, with example investments in that PCA for machine vision, machine learning, cybersecurity challenges in AI and neuromorphic computing architectures. Examples of AI investments in other PCAs include robots (IRAS), data analysis and management ecosystem (LSDMA), cybersecurity research (CISP) and neuromorphic computing (ECHS).

Note:

• Other:  USDA, DOT, NASA, NIJ, Commerce, Education/IES, Treasury/FCEN, and VA
• Figures in parentheses reflect change compared to FY 2023 enacted budgets, including supplemental FY 2023 funding

While the supplement does not provide detailed explanations of the change in investments, it does note funding with changes of $10M or more in investment from FY 2023 to FY 2024. In terms of AI, a $78.4M decrease in AI for FY 2024 at DOD/DARPA is driven by the completion of several AI programs, contributing to the overall decrease listed for DOD in the pie chart. At Navy, an increase of $32.7M in AI under its Cooperative Engagement Capability Increment II program is provided for FY 2024. Moreover, Interior requests an additional $20.6M in AI at the USGS in FY 2024.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) PCA

The AI R&D PCA represents 61% of the nearly $3.1B in FY 2024 for AI R&D in the budget supplement. The NITRD budget details nine FY 2024 strategic priorities under this PCA.

1. Make long-term investments in AI research.
2. Develop effective methods for human-AI collaboration.
3. Ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI.
4. Ensure the safety and security of AI systems.
5. Develop shared public datasets and environments for AI training and testing.
6. Measure and evaluate AI technologies through standards and benchmarks.
7. Better understand the national AI R&D workforce needs: Grow the AI R&D workforce to ensure America leads the AI innovation of the future.
8. Expand PPPs to accelerate advances in AI and strengthen the Nation's R&D ecosystem.
9. Establish a principled and coordinated approach to international collaboration in AI research.

The last priority is an addition from those listed in the FY 2023 supplement, revealing an emphasis in AI collaboration on the global stage. The addition also reflects the update to NITRD’s National AI R&D Strategic Plan, released earlier this year. Note that the supplement provides key R&D programs and participating agencies contributing to each of the above strategic priorities that is worth look.

National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes

The National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 requires NITRD to detail funding and status updates on National AI Research Institutes (AI Institutes) in the annual budget supplement. The AI Institutes serve as AI research hubs among public, private and academic partnerships. The AI research spectrum ranges from AI in education, cyber threat intelligence, workforce, law enforcement, agriculture to AI in dynamic systems and edge computing.  The AI Institutes total 25, with 7 launched in 2020, 11 more in 2021, and 7 in 2022. Most of the AI institutes are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), though other agencies contribute pieces of funding for the institutes as well.

Agency Funding for AI Research Institutes, FY 2022-2024 ($M)

Source: NITRD

Next in AI R&D

In addition to the strategies and programs listed in the NITRD supplement, the AI executive order (EO), which was released in late October 2023, is a reliable reference on what can be expected in federal AI R&D. For example, the EO calls on NSF to implement the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR). Additionally, the EO describes action items to advance research in privacy enhancing technologies (PETs).