Trump administration rolls out strategy to secure, promote critical technologies

President Trump on Thursday released a national strategy to promote the future of critical and emerging technologies around the world, including artificial intelligence, military and space technologies, and quantum computing.

The strategy lays out priorities for the promotion of these technologies and for keeping pace with other nations, with a focus on bolstering U.S. science and technology efforts both domestically and internationally and on protecting U.S. research and technology from adversaries. 

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement Thursday that one goal of the strategy was to underline U.S. international leadership in critical technologies. 

“As our competitors and adversaries mobilize vast resources in these fields, American dominance in science and technology is more important now than ever, and is vital to our long-term economic and national security,” McEnany said. 

She added that “the United States will not turn a blind eye to the tactics of countries like China and Russia, which steal technology, coerce companies into handing over intellectual property, undercut free and fair markets, and surreptitiously divert emerging civilian technologies to build up their militaries.”

Goals of the strategy include prioritizing science and technology workforce development, ensuring the U.S. leads on the development of international standards around critical technologies, building partnerships with allied nations and taking steps to protect the development of critical technologies such as through designing security into products. 

More broadly, the strategy is meant to encourage greater unity across the federal government on the development and protection of critical technologies, with the Trump administration writing in the strategy that a “holistic approach is required to address the growing convergence of technologies for various applications.”

“The National Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technologies lays the foundation for the United States to continue to turn ideas into innovations, to transform discoveries into successful commercial products and companies, and to protect and enhance the American way of life for many years to come,” McEnany said.

The Trump administration has pushed back hard against Chinese technology groups such as telecommunications company Huawei and social media platform TikTok, which is owned by Chinese group ByteDance, and has often taken steps through actions by the Commerce Department. 

A senior administration official told reporters on a call Thursday that while the strategy would not directly change the Commerce Department’s export control processes, the strategy “builds” on the agency’s efforts. 

The strategy was rolled out as part of wider efforts by the Trump administration to prioritize developing technologies such as AI and quantum computing. 

The U.S. and the United Kingdom signed a formal agreement last month to promote cooperation on AI development, while the administration announced in August that it would funnel over $1 billion over the next five years into funding new research institutes focused on AI and quantum computing development.