Government Extends Deadline for RFI on National AI Research Resource Roadmap

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation have extended the deadline of a request for information related to providing artificial intelligence researchers more computing resources.

On July 23, OSTP and NSF requested comments to inform the work of the National AI Research Resource Task Force.

Congress put the task force in charge of developing a roadmap for the creation of a shared research infrastructure through which AI researchers and students can access compute resources, high-quality data, educational tools and user support, OSTP and NSF said Wednesday.

Erwin Gianchandani, NSF senior adviser to the director for translation, innovation and partnerships, told Nextgov that the resources will likely include educational tools for new users.

He said the resource base will also bring together computational assets in a manner that accounts for security and privacy preservation.

Gianchandani added that the goal is to “democratize access” to the assets, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

OSTP and NSF moved the deadline for comments from Sept. 1 to Oct. 1 upon the requests of prospective respondents.

Commenters are encouraged to point out options, models and priorities that the NAIRR task force should consider in the development of the roadmap.

The task force also seeks input on how it can reinforce principles in the ethical and responsible development of the emerging technology.

The Department of Defense has stressed the importance of considering ethics in the development of AI. 

Officials from the DOD’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center previously said that trustworthiness is important for enabling AI-based autonomy, decision-making and system execution at fast speeds.