PANAWELL & PARTNERS, LLC

Richard Yong WANG, Partner, Lawyer and Patent Attorney

Some private technology companies, like Google, Microsoft, Open AI and Meta, annually invest tens of billions of dollars in research and development, dwarfing other small business, nonprofits and universities in their AI investment and racing ahead on developing cutting-edge AI system. Control over the direction of pioneering AI technologies has become extremely centralized due to the significant and huge data and computation requirements for AI trainings and applications. Even a few well-resourced universities are significantly outpaced by these private technology companies in AI research.

In order to truly democratize AI and bring the full force of the American innovation ecosystem to bear on AI development, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich, Todd Young, Cory Booker, and Mike Rounds introduced S.2714, i.e. the CREATE AI Act (Creating Resources for Every American To Experiment with Artificial Intelligence Act of 2023), in July 2023. The Act authorizes the construction of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), a cloud computing resource that will democratize development and use of artificial intelligence (AI). The NAIRR will provide free or low-cost access to datasets and computing resources for development of AI workflows and will also serve as a testbed for development and implementation of trustworthy AI practices.

The CREATE AI Act and NAIRR both are legislative and policy proposals introduced by the bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate AI Caucuses in response to the AI development, emphasizing the crucial position of the United States in the global AI competition. However, they differ in their focus. The CREATE AI Act primarily highlights overall strategic guidance and direction with the aim of ensuring U.S. leadership in the global AI competition while addressing various challenges posed by AI technology, and NAIRR is dedicated to providing shared resources and data to researchers, with the goal of promoting the development and application of AI technology.

The main contents of the CREATE AI Act include:

1. Research Funding Support: The government would provide substantial funding and resources to support basic research, applied research, and talent development in AI technology.

2. Fairness and Transparency: Encouragement for the development of unbiased, fair, and transparent AI algorithms to prevent unfairness or discrimination in AI applications.

3. Data Privacy Protection: Emphasis on respecting user privacy in AI systems and suggesting strict scrutiny of AI technologies using sensitive data.

4. National Security and Economic Growth: Promotion of AI technology applications in defense, security, healthcare, education, and other critical sectors to safeguard national security and drive economic growth.

5. International Cooperation and Competition: Encouragement of cooperation with other countries in the field of AI while maintaining global competitiveness.

The CREATE AI Act authorizes the development of NAIRR, which will be supervised by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Project Management Office. Additionally, an interagency steering committee will be established. The day-to-day operations of NAIRR, including the procurement of computational and data resources necessary for AI research, will be managed by an independent non-government entity. Following the establishment of NAIRR, researchers from higher education institutions (as well as certain small businesses receiving departmental funding) will be eligible to use NAIRR for AI research and allocate their time on NAIRR through a competitive process. Time allocations on NAIRR can also be leased to researchers in need of additional resources.

NAIRR's core features include:

1. Shared Resources: NAIRR would create a national-level AI research resource platform, providing researchers with computational resources, data, and tools to support various AI research and applications.

2. Open Data: Encouraging various departments and institutions to share their data, allowing researchers access to data for AI technology development while ensuring data privacy and security.

3. Public-Private Collaboration: Promoting collaboration between the public and private sectors, where private enterprises are encouraged to provide technical and resource support to NAIRR and use NAIRR's resources for technology development and applications.

4. Training and Education: Emphasizing the importance of AI technology education and training at all levels of the educational system to ensure a sufficient talent pool for future AI research and applications.

5. Regulation and Ethics: Addressing AI technology's ethical and regulatory issues, providing a set of recommendations and guidelines to ensure that AI technology development and applications occur within legal and ethical boundaries.

By achieving these objectives, NAIRR will become a shared national research infrastructure in the United States, providing a collaborative and open platform for AI technology research and applications. This will facilitate universities, small businesses, non-profit organizations, and government departments in accessing high-performance computing resources, large datasets, various algorithm models, and other hardware and software resources that facilitates the development of advanced AI technology. It will significantly reduce barriers, particularly in terms of data and computational resources, hindering small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals from innovating in AI technology, promoting a wide range of AI research, ensuring the United States maintains a leading position in the global AI competition. The combination of NAIRR and the CREATE AI Act will provide comprehensive support and guidance for AI technology development in the United States.

In general, the CREATE AI Act and NAIRR are inseparable, the former provides a legal framework and support for the establishment of the latter, while the latter's purpose is to drive AI research and development in the United States, with the aim of achieving socially beneficial innovation.

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