Trump Tech Aide Calls for ‘Creative’ R&D Push After Budget Cuts

Michael Kratsios, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, at his confirmation hearing earlier this year. Photo by Kent Nishimura /Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Blo

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(Bloomberg) — White House science and technology director Michael Kratsios said the US will need to make “smart choices” with public research funding to stay competitive in areas like artificial intelligence as the Trump administration’s sweeping budget cuts spread to research organizations.

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“We must be more creative in our use of public research and development money and shape a funding environment that makes clear what our national priorities are,” Kratsios told technology leaders on Monday at the Endless Frontiers retreat in Austin, his first public remarks since his Senate confirmation in March. Kratsios added that federal dollars for research proposals should be deployed “more rapidly” and said similar approaches proved valuable during the Covid pandemic.

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The Trump administration has enacted aggressive cuts across the federal government, threatening the flow of funding to various science and technology research projects. For example, the National Science Foundation, a key agency focused on artificial intelligence research, has been hit with a wave of layoffs that affected groups deploying grants for AI. 

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As the new head of the White House science and technology policy office, Kratsios must simultaneously find ways to spur US competitiveness while effectively doing more with less. Kratsios told Bloomberg News that his office could boost R&D efforts for sectors like AI by working with the Office of Management and Budget on a memo to set and align research funding priorities across agencies.

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“We have to be the place where these breakthroughs ultimately happen,” he said in an interview, when asked about supporting AI development. “We want to create an environment where we allow that to happen.”

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Kratsios most recently worked at startup Scale AI and also served as the White House’s chief technology officer during President Donald Trump’s first term. Along with other officials, including White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, Kratsios will help develop a new AI Action Plan by July to bolster US dominance in artificial intelligence in the face of growing competition from China. Trump rescinded the Biden administration’s sprawling executive order shortly after returning to office.

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In his public remarks Monday, Kratsios criticized the Biden administration’s approach to tech policy, saying it was “led by a spirit of fear rather than promise.” He called for significant regulatory reform to drive innovation, particularly in areas like nuclear energy. “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,” he said. 

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Kratsios also stressed the importance of protecting American technological advantages through stronger export controls, even as some companies and governments push the White House to rethink chip curbs unveiled in the final days of the Biden administration. 

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“After 30 years of subsidizing Chinese growth, it is time for us to stop helping a rival catch up with us,” Kratsios said. “We have to be much more vigilant and organized in getting our exports sorted.”

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