The proposed plan will offer the "first deliverables" of the National Quantum Initiative Act, a law passed by the previous Congress as an initiative to improve US efforts on quantum technology, due to rising concerns of Chinese dominance over the US in the race to deploy 5G mobile broadband technology and implementations of AI, a White House official said.
"Within the coming weeks, we could expect to see action designed to preserve American [research and development] leadership in artificial intelligence, 5G, and the first deliverables from the National Quantum Initiative Act," the administration official said in an email to The Hill.
Earlier The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House plan is expected to include executive orders from President Trump that will redirect resources toward improving AI and 5G technology. The administration is expected to stress the need for increased spending on researching and developing new technologies and using governmental data to improve artificial intelligence, the report suggested.
Senators attending the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday also expressed their concerns that China could win the "race to 5G," and that Chinese tech giants like ZTE and Huawei could hack US 5G technology.
“We must be certain that there is a secure supply chain backing up our 5G system. We cannot tolerate a leaky valve or a back-door into these networks,” Senator Maria Cantwell, a member of the committee, said during her opening remarks, calling on Trump to provide Congress with “a real, quantifiable 5G threat assessment.”
