Lack of competition is driving federal budget antitrust hike

In other areas, the White House is adding $187 million to the National Institute of Standards and Technology for research initiatives and development of standards to accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies such as quantum science, advanced biotechnologies and artificial intelligence.

But the funding increase is too little too late, said Alan Pelz-Sharpe, founder of market research firm Deep Analysis.

Pelz-Sharpe said it would be good for the U.S. to set standards for AI, particularly around the areas of fair use, transparency and bias. However, he said the U.S. is behind the curve when it comes to standards setting and likely won’t set a precedent for the rest of the world to follow.

“The international community has already moved ahead to define and set standards,” Pelz-Sharpe said.

The European Union, for example, has adopted its General Data Protection Regulation, a privacy and security law, while the U.S. has yet to adopt a federal data privacy law, Pelz-Sharpe said.

When it comes to data, the federal budget does include an increase of $36 million to protect sensitive U.S. data against foreign threats. The increased funding would be used to review the information and communications technology (ICT) supply chain transactions that “pose an undue risk to the United States, and an enforcement program to deter and mitigate foreign malicious cyber-enabled activities.”

Pelz-Sharpe said foreign threats to U.S. data are serious and need to be addressed. But the $36 million increase “will not go anything near far enough to truly address the mounting threats.”

Makenzie Holland is a news writer covering big tech and federal regulation. Prior to joining TechTarget, she was a general reporter for the Wilmington StarNews and a crime and education reporter at the Wabash Plain Dealer.