US-UK agree to cooperate on AI research
The Trump administration announced on Friday that the United States and the United Kingdom had signed a new agreement to cooperate on research and development of artificial intelligence.
“This historic agreement demonstrates the shared commitment of our two nations to drive technological breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence that will strengthen our collective economic prosperity and national security far into the future,” a White House statement said.
Text of the Agreement
The following declaration was released by the Governments of the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland during the September 25 inaugural meeting of the Special Relationship Economic Working Group.
Begin Text
Recognizing the benefits and opportunities artificial intelligence (AI) brings, and the importance of AI for our future economic growth, health and wellbeing, the protection of democratic values, and national security;
Desiring to harness AI technologies to empower our citizens, improve their quality of life, and promote a technology ecosystem that enables innovation to flourish by integrating AI into the economy;
Recognizing the value of shared best practice on public data sets to unlock AI innovation and exchanges of information on regulatory frameworks to remove barriers to innovation whilst commanding public confidence;
Recognizing the importance of collaboration in basic and early stage research and development (R&D), and the need to establish the research foundations for continued and future AI innovations and use;
Recognizing the importance of promoting trust and understanding in order to enable the adoption of AI and fully realize its potential;
Recognizing the importance of a capable R&D workforce and workforce development for AI-related technical skills, including apprenticeships, reskilling programs, computer science and STEM education — to empower and enable current and future generations of workers, and to improve the quality of life of our people;
Recognizing that public-private-partnerships bring value to and enrich the AI R&D enterprise, enhance technology commercialization, and create value for our citizens;
Building on the US-UK Science and Technology Agreement signed in September 2017, we intend to advance our shared vision and work towards an AI R&D ecosystem that embodies this approach by:
- Taking stock of and utilizing existing bilateral science and technology cooperation (e.g., the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. National Science Foundation and UK Research and Innovation on Research Cooperation) and multilateral cooperation frameworks;
- Recommending priorities for future cooperation, particularly in R&D areas where each partner shares strong common interest (e.g., interdisciplinary research and intelligent systems) and brings complementary challenges, regulatory or cultural considerations, or expertise to the partnerships;
- Coordinating as appropriate the planning and programming of relevant activities in these areas, including promoting researcher and student collaboration that could potentially involve national partners, the private sector, academia, and the scientific community to further our efforts by harnessing the value of public-private partnerships; and
- Promoting research and development in AI, focusing on challenging technical issues, and protecting against efforts to adopt and apply these technologies in the service of authoritarianism and repression.
We intend to establish a bilateral government-to-government dialogue on the areas identified in this vision and explore an AI R&D ecosystem that promotes the mutual wellbeing, prosperity, and security of present and future generations.
Signed in London and Washington on September 25, 2020, in two originals, in the English language.
For the United States:
The Honorable Michael J.K. Kratsios
Chief Technology Officer of the United States
The White House
For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
The Right Honorable Alok Sharma, MP
