The Big Story: Pilot program launched to support AI research, innovation.
On Wednesday, the National Science Foundation launched a pilot of the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) to provide U.S.-based researchers and educators with access to compute, data, and support for exploring AI technology. The NAIRR will bolster the innovation ecosystem through those resources and by strengthening the AI talent pool in the U.S. The pilot was directed by Biden’s October AI executive order and is just a first step that should be more permanently authorized by Congress swiftly passing the CREATE AI Act.
The NAIRR was conceived as the product of a robust congressionally-chartered task force process that included stakeholders from government, industry, and academia and sought multiple rounds of stakeholder feedback. Engine and startups themselves weighed in throughout the task force process to ensure the resource would be designed with the needs of entrepreneurs of all backgrounds in mind. The pilot launched this week will last for two years and will serve as a “proof of concept” for the eventual full-scale resource. The pilot brings together resources from nearly a dozen federal agencies and over two dozen other partners, with AI-ready datasets and educational resources available, and initial applications for compute resources being accepted through March.
The NAIRR pilot will prove a critical component to advancing U.S. competitiveness in AI, especially as other jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and the European Union pull together their own domestic programs. As the NAIRR pilot program continues, the startup ecosystem is likely to benefit both from the resources it offers and from a broader AI talent pool, each of which lower barriers to AI innovation. To ensure these benefits accrue and continue over the long term, Congress must pass the CREATE AI Act to authorize and expand the NAIRR.
Policy Roundup:
Florida’s Internet bill advances with costly consequences for startups. On Wednesday, the Florida House of Representatives passed HB 1, a measure that would require certain Internet services to verify the ages of all of their users and prevent users under age 16 from creating or maintaining accounts. The legislation applies to social media services, and does not have size or revenue based thresholds, and the age verification requirements will markedly raise already high barriers to new entrants in the social media space. The Florida bill is one of many proposals at the federal and state levels that raise competitive and constitutional concerns by either implicitly or explicitly requiring age verification.
E-Commerce tariff moratorium extension omitted from renewal proposal. India on Tuesday circulated a draft decision to fellow World Trade Organization members that did not include an extension of a critical policy for startups and digital trade. That policy, where WTO members agree not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions (like software), has existed and been renewed since the dawn of the commercial Internet. Despite shaping a global market with low barriers to digital trade and enabling entrepreneurship, countries like India would like to end the moratorium so they can tax electronic transmissions. The moratorium will expire at the end of March if it is not renewed at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference next month, and members will convene next week to continue discussing the issue.
Proposal to expand patent eligibility likely to reopen door to abusive litigation. This week, the Senate Judiciary intellectual property subcommittee held a hearing on the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, a proposal that would undo critical court decisions that have helped prevent the assertion of weak patents. Right now, abstract ideas, laws of nature, and natural phenomena cannot be patented, which is good for startups because it means no one can tie up the basic building blocks of innovation through the patent system. As we explained when the bill was introduced in the previous Congress, proposals like this one “would open doors to the type of weak, overbroad patents that preempt innovation and harm competition.”
Growing state-level privacy patchwork casts shadow on Data Privacy Week. This week marked National Data Privacy Week, renewing focus on the patchwork of state privacy laws that pose significant challenges for startups. Fifteen states have passed their own unique frameworks and more continue to propose their own, leading startups to face increased confusion, legal risk, and compliance costs arising from duplicate activities of up to $60,000 per new state law. Startups need a uniform federal data privacy framework that creates certainty so that they can focus their limited resources on innovation.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Bronx, New York. MetaBronx is the leading startup accelerator in NYC for underrepresented founders—including women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community—who are inventing technology-based solutions to large-scale problems. We spoke with co-founder Alejandra Molina about the current challenges underrepresented founders face in raising capital, the important role of accelerators and incubators in the startup ecosystem, and how the U.S. can create a welcoming environment for immigrant entrepreneurs.
