The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence submitted its interim report and third quarter recommendations to the president and Congress Tuesday.
The commission, composed largely of private sector tech experts from companies such as Google and Oracle, submitted 66 recommendations across six lines of effort including workforce, education and research and development. Commissioners voted on recommendations last week during a virtual public plenary meeting.
The far-reaching recommendations pointed to a theme that has increasingly gripped the minds of policymakers: the return of great power competition. Commission co-chairs Robert Work, former deputy secretary of Defense, and Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, told reporters during a press call Tuesday that artificial intelligence is an essential component of competition with nations like China.
“It’s become very clear that we are in an innovation competition unlike anything we’ve ever faced before,” Work said.
One of the most significant recommendations targeted at this competition calls for the creation of a technology council chaired by the vice president and tasked with the development of a national technology strategy.
This council could live within existing White House entities such as the National Security Council or the Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to the report. The report also recommends the council include an assistant to the president to run day-to-day activities. NSCAI specifically states this assistant should be someone who not only understands the workings of government, but who also has “strong ties to the private sector technology community.”
Both the Trump and Obama administrations have received criticism regarding revolving door relationships with Silicon Valley, though. Lately, commission recommends powerful great power competition
