Donald Trump has signed an executive order mandating federal government agencies to prioritise funding and research into artificial intelligence (AI).

The US president wants to use the American AI Initiative (AIA) to enable agencies to access federal data and research models to help realign the US economy and workforce for the rise of the era of AI, Reuters news reported.

The initiative will increase focus on areas such as advanced manufacturing and quantum computing in order to ensure the US maintains a competitive advantage as industries begin to adopt AI-led techniques more widely, leading to disruption to more traditional forms of employment and the need to reskill the workforce.

The announcement yesterday (Monday), followed Trump’s state of the union address last Tuesday in which he called for infrastructure investment and the need to devote resources to the cutting-edge industries of the future.

Reuters news reported comments from a senior administration source, who said: “AI is something that touches every aspect of people’s lives.

“What this initiative attempts to do is to bring all those together under one umbrella and show the promise of this technology for the American people.”

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