Latest news with #AI+BiotechnologySummit
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Meta's chief AI scientist calls French initiative to attract US scientists a 'smart move'
Meta's AI chief praised France's initiative to attract top scientists and engineers. France is increasing funding for universities and research organizations to entice foreign talent. Trump, meanwhile, has tightened immigration and cut research funding in the United States. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has tightened immigration controls, cut funding for government grants and research, reduced staffing at NASA and NOAA, and attacked top universities. France seems to have sensed an opportunity. The National Research Agency, part of the Education Ministry, announced on Friday a "Choose France for Science" initiative to attract scientists from abroad, opening up more government funding for universities, schools, and research organizations to entice foreign talent. "As the international context creates the conditions for an unprecedented wave of mobility among researchers around the world, France aims to position itself as a host country for those wishing to continue their work in Europe, drawing on the country's research ecosystem and infrastructure," the agency said in a statement. In a LinkedIn post, French President Emmanuel Macron said that research is a "priority." "Researchers from around the world, choose France, choose Europe!" he wrote. Meta's chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, who was born in France, responded to the announcement on Saturday, calling the initiative a 'smart move.' LeCun has criticized Trump for targeting public research funding. Last month, he wrote on LinkedIn that the "US seems set on destroying its public research funding system. Many US-based scientists are looking for a Plan B." In that same post, he told European countries, "You may have an opportunity to attract some of the best scientists in the world." LeCun is not the only tech leader to criticize the Trump administration's policy decisions regarding science, research, and education. Last week, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the administration has launched a "total attack on all of science in America." Speaking at the AI+Biotechnology Summit, Schmidt said he knew people in the tech space who planned to return to London because "they don't want to work in this environment." Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says Trump has launched an 'attack on science'
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Trump's research cuts could hurt competition with China. Schmidt characterized Trump's policies in his second term as an "attack on science." "This madness will eventually end because it's too stupid not to fix," Schmidt said at a recent summit. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the United States could fall behind China in the race to superintelligence if President Donald Trump keeps on keeping on the way he is. Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has tightened immigration controls, cut funding for government grants and research, reduced staffing and funding at NASA and NOAA, and targeted universities for their DEI-related programs and pro-Palestinian protests. In March, Columbia University agreed to a series of conditions — stricter protest policies, a bolstered campus security force, and oversight of its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department — after the administration threatened to withhold $400 million in funding. This week, the Trump administration froze $2 billion in funding to Harvard University after school leaders refused similar demands, including changes to Harvard's admissions process that would force it to coordinate with immigration officials. Schmidt said these kinds of efforts from the Trump administration could chill tech development in the United States just as competition from China is ramping up. At the AI+Biotechnology Summit, hosted last week by the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, Schmidt said the government has leveraged education funding to "falsely attack science." Schmidt graduated from Princeton University and has spoken highly of the school in other appearances. At the conference, an interviewer asked Schmidt for his reaction to the Trump administration's suspension of university research programs and cuts to government science programs. "This looks like a total attack on all of science in America," Schmidt said. "We're up against China that is pouring a trillion dollars into this, and we're screwing around with funding the core people to invent our future." Schmidt was also asked about international students choosing not to come to the United States, or tech workers looking for work in other countries, because they worry they could face problems with immigration. He said he knew people who planned to return to London because "they don't want to work in this environment." While many tech leaders, like Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who both attended and helped finance Trump's inauguration, have struck a conciliatory tone with the administration, there appears to be dissent among the ranks. Last month, Meta's Chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, said Trump had started a "witch hunt in academia, moving to cancel the green card of some folks and expel them based on their speech." Schmidt said that "everything that has happened in American exceptionalism" has come from the understanding that universities create exceptional innovators who can create strong "science and technology-generated" business opportunities. "If you think that this sounds like me being a Democrat, let me remind you that fracking, which is hugely successful in America, made us independent of oil and gas, made us the largest exporter, followed the same path," Schmidt said. Schmidt said many universities are now under "hiring freezes" because they are "so scared of this administration, which appears to be withholding hundreds of millions of dollars from them." "This madness will eventually end, because it's too stupid not to fix, but there's damage occurring already, and I want everyone to understand it's real damage," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider
