Trump signs order prioritising artificial intelligence research amid looming China ambitions

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing the US government to prioritise artificial intelligence in its research and development spending, the White House said.

The order, which comes amid concerns about China’s ambitions to dominate the sector and the likelihood of disruption for workers as the technology automates millions of jobs, doesn’t outline specific funding goals, but says it aims to ensure that AI develops in a manner that reflects US values and to push training for the future workforce.

Ivanka Trump and Chris Liddell, a former Microsoft chief financial officer who is now a deputy chief of staff to the president, planned to attend the signing ceremony, according to a statement the White House issued in advance.

The moves occur less than a week after Trump’s State of the Union address, when he said investments in “cutting edge industries of the future” are “a necessity.” The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy said in a statement during the speech on February 5 that AI was among the industries Trump was referring to, alongside 5G broadband, advanced manufacturing and others.

In December, top tech chief executives – including Google’s Sundar Pichai, International Business Machines’s Ginni Rometty and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella – met with White House officials including Ivanka Trump on similar topics.