Latest news with #WhiteHouseOfficeofScienceandTechnology
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
White House Announces It Can Now "Manipulate Time and Space"
During an address about the so-called "golden age of American innovation," White House Office of Science and Technology director Michael Kratsios made an absolutely bonkers claim: "Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space." The bizarre and nonsensical statement, which appears to have been part of a breathless rallying cry to end regulation of the tech industry, suggests that Kratsios believes that tech companies can defy the basic laws of physics. Needless to say, it remains unclear which "technologies" Kratsios was referring to; though you might make a bong-rip-style argument that certain innovations can manipulate space, the world's greatest minds have yet to develop anything even approaching a time machine. "At a time defined by the desire to build in America again, we have to throw off the burden of bad regulations that weigh down our innovators, and use federal resources to test, to deploy, and to mature emerging technologies," Kratsios said, according to a transcript of the April 14 speech posted to the White House's official website. But considering the massive cuts the Trump administration has overseen, there's a good chance the tech sector in the US could soon have an even harder time finding ways to "manipulate time and space" — with or without bureaucracy and regulations standing in the way. Trump's anti-science agenda has already proven devastating. A recently revealed proposed budget could cut NASA's science budget nearly in half, an "extinction-level event for NASA science," according to Planetary Society chief of space policy Casey Dreier. Kratsios claimed that the "greatest obstacle to limitless energy in this country has been a regulatory regime opposed to innovation and development." Given the Trump administration's regressive approach to the topic, though, the energy industry could instead be taking a major step back. Just this week, Trump granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce harmful emissions. In other words, Trump's fossil fuels-first approach could stand in the way of innovation in the sector, rather than promoting it, putting a dent in the clean energy industry's otherwise considerable momentum. Kratsios hammered the point home by repeating the phrase: the state stands in the way, he alleged, of "scientific discoveries that will bend time and space, make more with less, and drive us further into the endless frontier." Sure, the notion that we can bend time and space is complete and utter nonsense. But Kratsios' pompous remarks seem to further a far more insidious narrative as well — that Trump's administration is somehow looking out for the individual American, who, according to the director, could usher in a new "Golden Age." Trump's chaotic rule has thrown the entire tech sector into chaos and raised concerns of an imminent recession. Massive budget cuts to healthcare and social security could undercut the ability of individuals to innovate. Companies faced with an extremely volatile market and crumbling trade relations may soon have to start from scratch, with executives begging Trump for a scrap of stability. In short, Kratsios' "Golden Age," ushered in by technologies that can defeat the basic laws of physics, is nothing short of a pipe dream — in what feels like a made-up narrative to make White House officials feel good about their dubious real-world accomplishments. More on tech innovation: Flailing OpenAI Calls for Ban on Chinese AI
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
White House: US will lead in AI, but China is catching up
EXCLUSIVE: China's innovation in artificial intelligence is "accelerating," according to Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology. He told Fox News Digital that the United States' "promote and protect" strategy will solidify its standing as the world's dominant power in AI. Kratsios, who served as chief technology officer during the first Trump administration, sat for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Monday. Flashback: Us Technology Chief Warns China 'Twisting' Artificial Intelligence To Target Critics, As America Joins Global Pact "The White House in the first Trump administration redefined national tech policy to focus on American leadership in emerging technologies, and those were technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 5G, [which] were big back then," Kratsios said. "The president, at that time, signed the executive order prioritizing U.S. leadership in AI, back in 2019 when people weren't even talking about it." "He recognized that it was critical for the U.S. to lead in AI," Kratsios said. "We got the ball rolling on what the U.S. national strategy is and how we would win." During his first administration, Trump signed the first-ever executive order on AI in 2019. He also took executive action in 2020 to establish the first-ever guidance for federal agency adoption of AI to deliver services to the American people and "foster public trust" in the technology. Read On The Fox News App But Kratsios said that when former President Joe Biden took office, the attitude of his administration toward AI shifted to "one of fear and one of over-regulation." "There was a fixation on what I would call harms, so, spending time and energy thinking about all the things that could go wrong with this technology, versus having a balanced approach, where you try to minimize things that could go poorly, and more importantly, look at ways this technology can transform America for the better," Kratsios explained, noting that Biden officials were "harms focused," which he said was "manifested in a lot of the policies that they did, in the way that they were very reticent to applying some of this technology to a lot of the issues that government faced, like how you make agencies more efficient." Kratsios reflected on Trump's AI message during the campaign, saying he "made it very clear that we as a country need to win and be dominant in artificial intelligence." "And he acted very decisively," Kratsios said, pointing to Trump's move on his third day in office to direct him and other officials to develop an AI action plan. "It was a way to review everything that had been done under the Biden administration and turn the page with an agenda that's focused on sustaining and ensuring continued U.S. leadership in this particular technology, and that's what we've been working on," Kratsios said. 'Ai Powerhouse': White House Encourages Americans To Provide Ideas For Artificial Intelligence Strategy Kratsios explained that the U.S. is "the leader" in AI, specifically when it comes to the "three layers of technology," which he said are chips or high-end semiconductors, the model itself and the application layer. "If you look at all three of those layers, the U.S. is the leader," Kratsios said. "We have the best chips. We have the best models. And we have the best applications to date." But he warned that the Trump administration is "seeing the velocity of innovation" from China. "We're seeing the speed at which the PRC is catching up with us is actually accelerating," he explained. Kratsios referenced DeepSeek, which was released by a Chinese firm earlier in 2025 and develops large language models. "I think what DeepSeek revealed is that the Chinese continue to make progress and are trying really hard to catch up with us on those three layers," Kratsios said. But the key to maintaining U.S. dominance in the space is the Trump administration's "promote and protect" strategy, Kratsios explained. Kratsios said the Trump administration will "promote" by continuing to accelerate the development of technology and encouraging more Americans, American companies and countries around the world to use that technology. "And then on the protect side, what is it that the U.S. has which could be useful to the PRC to accelerate their efforts in AI? We protect that technology from access by the Chinese," Kratsios said, pointing to high-end semiconductors and chips that the Chinese "shouldn't have access to, because that would make it easier for them to accelerate their efforts." "How do we speed up innovation here at home and slow down our adversaries?" Kratsios said. Opinion: How Team Trump Can Make Ai Stand For American Innovation The answer, Kratsios said, is AI research and development that continues to drive innovation. He also said the Trump administration needs to continue to remove regulations and barriers to AI innovation, and also prepare and train Americans in the workforce to "better leverage this technology." Kratsios said another step is ensuring that foreign allies partner with the U.S. to "make sure that they are also keeping the PRC at bay and that they continue to use the American AI stack." "So, if you're any country in the world that wants to use AI, you'd want to use an American stack," he explained. "So we should make it as easy as possible in order for us to export our technology to like-minded partners." As for China, Kratsios said the PRC "is probably one of the most sophisticated surveillance states in the world, and that is underpinned by their own artificial intelligence technology." "I think the goal of the United States should be to continue to be the dominant power in AI. And there are certain inputs to the development of AI which we can control, and which we would not want the PRC to have access to," he said. "And the most important pieces are sort of these very high-end chips that they can use to train models, and also certain equipment that would allow them to build their own very high-end chips." He added: "And if we can kind of continue to make it challenging for them to do that. I think it'll be the benefit of the U.S." Looking ahead, Kratsios echoed the president, saying the U.S. is in the "golden age" and that this special moment in time is "underpinned by unbelievable science and technology." "We want to put an American flag on Mars," Kratsios said. "We want to fly supersonic again. We want drones to be delivering packages around the world. We want AI to be used by American workers to allow them to do their jobs better, safer and faster." He added: "We have an opportunity to all these things, like so much more, in these four years. And this office is going to be the home for driving that innovation across so many technological domains."Original article source: White House: US will lead in AI, but China is catching up
Fox News
08-04-2025
- Business
- Fox News
White House: US will lead in AI, but China is catching up
EXCLUSIVE: China's innovation in artificial intelligence is "accelerating," according to Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology. He told Fox News Digital that the United States' "promote and protect" strategy will solidify its standing as the world's dominant power in AI. Kratsios, who served as chief technology officer during the first Trump administration, sat for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital on Monday. "The White House in the first Trump administration redefined national tech policy to focus on American leadership in emerging technologies, and those were technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 5G, [which] were big back then," Kratsios said. "The president, at that time, signed the executive order prioritizing U.S. leadership in AI, back in 2019 when people weren't even talking about it." "He recognized that it was critical for the U.S. to lead in AI," Kratsios said. "We got the ball rolling on what the U.S. national strategy is and how we would win." During his first administration, Trump signed the first-ever executive order on AI in 2019. He also took executive action in 2020 to establish the first-ever guidance for federal agency adoption of AI to deliver services to the American people and "foster public trust" in the technology. But Kratsios said that when former President Joe Biden took office, the attitude of his administration toward AI shifted to "one of fear and one of over-regulation." "There was a fixation on what I would call harms, so, spending time and energy thinking about all the things that could go wrong with this technology, versus having a balanced approach, where you try to minimize things that could go poorly, and more importantly, look at ways this technology can transform America for the better," Kratsios explained, noting that Biden officials were "harms focused," which he said was "manifested in a lot of the policies that they did, in the way that they were very reticent to applying some of this technology to a lot of the issues that government faced, like how you make agencies more efficient." Kratsios reflected on Trump's AI message during the campaign, saying he "made it very clear that we as a country need to win and be dominant in artificial intelligence." "And he acted very decisively," Kratsios said, pointing to Trump's move on his third day in office to direct him and other officials to develop an AI action plan. "It was a way to review everything that had been done under the Biden administration and turn the page with an agenda that's focused on sustaining and ensuring continued U.S. leadership in this particular technology, and that's what we've been working on," Kratsios said. Kratsios explained that the U.S. is "the leader" in AI, specifically when it comes to the "three layers of technology," which he said are chips or high-end semiconductors, the model itself and the application layer. "If you look at all three of those layers, the U.S. is the leader," Kratsios said. "We have the best chips. We have the best models. And we have the best applications to date." But he warned that the Trump administration is "seeing the velocity of innovation" from China. "We're seeing the speed at which the PRC is catching up with us is actually accelerating," he explained. Kratsios referenced DeepSeek, which was released by a Chinese firm earlier in 2025 and develops large language models. "I think what DeepSeek revealed is that the Chinese continue to make progress and are trying really hard to catch up with us on those three layers," Kratsios said. But the key to maintaining U.S. dominance in the space is the Trump administration's "promote and protect" strategy, Kratsios explained. Kratsios said the Trump administration will "promote" by continuing to accelerate the development of technology and encouraging more Americans, American companies and countries around the world to use that technology. "And then on the protect side, what is it that the U.S. has which could be useful to the PRC to accelerate their efforts in AI? We protect that technology from access by the Chinese," Kratsios said, pointing to high-end semiconductors and chips that the Chinese "shouldn't have access to, because that would make it easier for them to accelerate their efforts." "How do we speed up innovation here at home and slow down our adversaries?" Kratsios said. The answer, Kratsios said, is AI research and development that continues to drive innovation. He also said the Trump administration needs to continue to remove regulations and barriers to AI innovation, and also prepare and train Americans in the workforce to "better leverage this technology." Kratsios said another step is ensuring that foreign allies partner with the U.S. to "make sure that they are also keeping the PRC at bay and that they continue to use the American AI stack." "So, if you're any country in the world that wants to use AI, you'd want to use an American stack," he explained. "So we should make it as easy as possible in order for us to export our technology to like-minded partners." As for China, Kratsios said the PRC "is probably one of the most sophisticated surveillance states in the world, and that is underpinned by their own artificial intelligence technology." "I think the goal of the United States should be to continue to be the dominant power in AI. And there are certain inputs to the development of AI which we can control, and which we would not want the PRC to have access to," he said. "And the most important pieces are sort of these very high-end chips that they can use to train models, and also certain equipment that would allow them to build their own very high-end chips." He added: "And if we can kind of continue to make it challenging for them to do that. I think it'll be the benefit of the U.S." Looking ahead, Kratsios echoed the president, saying the U.S. is in the "golden age" and that this special moment in time is "underpinned by unbelievable science and technology." "We want to put an American flag on Mars," Kratsios said. "We want to fly supersonic again. We want drones to be delivering packages around the world. We want AI to be used by American workers to allow them to do their jobs better, safer and faster." He added: "We have an opportunity to all these things, like so much more, in these four years. And this office is going to be the home for driving that innovation across so many technological domains."
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MPA Says Copyright Law Must Be Defended In AI Age
In a ten-page comment directed to the White House Office of Science and Technology earlier this month, the Motion Picture Association said AI 'can, and must, coexist with a copyright system that incentivizes the creation of original expression and protects the rights of copyright owners.' The trade group repping members Amazon Studios, Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Entertainment sent the missive during a now closed comment period sought by the Trump administration as it formulates its AI policy. Giants like OpenAI and Google have asked for fewer restrictions on how they use content to feed their large language models, posting a threat to the current copyright regime. They are calling it a national security matter because if anything slows them down, China will pull ahead in the AI race. More from Deadline Warner Bros' Jeff Goldstein Sounds Alarm On Economics Of Making Movies: "We Have To Figure Out How We Can Right The Ship" - CinemaCon As CinemaCon Fires Up, Here Are The Biggest Mistakes Studios & Exhibitors Are Making Right Now Kendrick Lamar, Trey Parker & Matt Stone Movie From Paramount Heads To Spring 2026 - CinemaCon The filing, quietly posted to the MPA's website, stakes out a position in broad strokes in line with the creative community but moderate enough to pass muster with all of its members. It follows public policy statements like the use of AI-generated digital replicas, and AI-generated content in political ads. The latest statement comes as AI really heats up. Artificial Intelligence has 'great potential to enhance human creativity, promote human flourishing and further our nation's economic competitiveness,' the MPA said. But 'to do this, these developments can, and must, coexist with a copyright system that incentivizes the creation of original expression and protects the rights of copyright owners.' MPA President and CEO Charlie Rivkin echoed the sentiments in an interview with Deadline ahead of CinemaCon, the gathering of exhibitors and studios that started today in Las Vegas. He'll be addressing remarks to the group tomorrow but discussing other things. 'We want the U.S. to remain the global leader in filmmaking, and we want America to be the global leader in AI. And those ambitions are not mutually exclusive,' he said. 'Copyright is at the core of our industry, it's the most important thing we have.' The letter comes as Hollywood guilds have slammed the MPA and its members for not being more vocal or taking to the courts — yet, at least — even as dozens of content creators from Sarah Silverman to the New York Times have sued AI giants for sucking up copyrighted material to train their models. In December, the WGA said Hollywood studios have 'harmed' its members and violated the Minimum Basic Agreement by not acting as their copyrighted works were used to train generative AI models. Earlier this month, hundreds of Hollywood A-listers signed an open letter to the White House warning of massive, illegal value destruction and an existential threat to the entertainment industry if AI firms are allowed to skirt copyright law. 'It is clear that Google (valued at $2Tn) and OpenAI (valued at over $157Bn) are arguing for a special government exemption so they can freely exploit America's creative and knowledge industries, despite their substantial revenues and available funds. There is no reason to weaken or eliminate the copyright protections that have helped America flourish. Not when AI companies can use our copyrighted material by simply doing what the law requires: negotiating appropriate licenses with copyright holders — just as every other industry does. Access to America's creative catalog of films, writing, video content, and music is not a matter of national security. They do not require a government-mandated exemption from existing U.S. copyright law,' the letter said. The MPA's comments are more restrained. 'The truth is that the protection of IP and innovation are mutually reinforcing values. In AI specifically, for example, copyright law incentivizes the creation of a variety of high-quality creative content, which AI developers in turn rely on to train their generative AI models. The quality of the content used to train AI affects the quality of the AI system—garbage in, garbage out; quality in, quality out.' Both letters reinforced the economic proposition with the MPA noting that copyright industries contribute more than $2 trillion to the U.S. GDP, accounting for nearly 8% of the U.S. economy and more than half of the U.S. digital economy. Globally, foreign sales of U.S. copyright products outperform other major industries including chemicals manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products and aerospace products. With export sales of $23 billion in 2023, audiovisual exports consistently generate a positive balance of trade with nearly every other country. In 2023, that trade surplus was $15.3 billion, or 6% of the total U.S. private-sector trade surplus in services, it said. Strong copyright protection, the MPA noted, also aligns with Vice President Vance's declaration at the February 2025 Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris that 'We will always center American workers in our AI policy'— again, a sentiment with which MPA wholeheartedly agrees.' 'As of now, there is no cause to believe the courts and existing law are not up to the task of applying existing copyright law to new technology—as courts have been doing for over a century—and thus MPA sees no reason for changes to U.S. law to resolve these fair use issues.' The MPA, in one addendum, said it does oppose 'any requirement to label or disclose when AI tools are used in low-risk activities, such as the creation of works for expressive and entertainment purposes. Such a requirement is unnecessary; there is no reason, for example, to require a 'MADE WITH AI' label on a scene in a movie where visual-effects tools that incorporate AI are used to depict a superhero zooming between skyscrapers to save a fictionalized version of New York, or to place historic figures in a fictional setting. In fact, such hypothetical labeling requirements would hinder creative freedom and could conflict with the First Amendment's prohibition against compelled speech.' 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