I’m a Biden appointee. But on AI, I’m hopeful for a Trump-Musk ‘moonshot’

If you take a step back, it’s impossible not to marvel at our technological ingenuity.

We have created supercomputers that fit in our hand. We are creating human organs on 3D printers. We may soon put humans on Mars, a mere 140 million miles away.

It has been 55 years since the first “moonshot,” where Americans landed the first manned spacecraft on the moon. Now, it’s time to invest in an AI moonshot — not with an intergalactic goal, but one of far more significance (and arguably more impressive) to the average American — to make the government efficient, benefiting both the people and the businesses that count on it every day.

This month, I’ll join a group of top business leaders for the final time as members of President Biden’s export council, with a shared goal of improving global trade for American companies. But this meeting will also focus on a transition to a Trump presidency, which I am hopeful will continue to unlock innovation and growth through technological investment.

While most of the attention on trade has revolved around President-elect Trump’s threats to impose sweeping tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico — and the inflated costs they could bring to materials and goods —  the recent reporting by Axios that Trump plans to appoint an “AI Czar,” with input from Elon Musk, means emerging technologies are front-and-center of the next administration.

The first step for an AI moonshot is making a historic investment in the Technology Modernization Fund. Established in 2017, the fund’s mission is to modernize government processes with new, more efficient technologies.

By streamlining trade processes with AI, we can speed up customs procedures and supply chain visibility, reducing barriers to international commerce and enhancing U.S. export capabilities. 

Smaller businesses, disproportionately affected by our labyrinth of complex regulations, will be some of the biggest winners. In the first eight months of 2023 alone, there were over 740,000 new regulatory updates worldwide on trade. Making that environment easier to navigate will increase productivity and unlock new global markets for them. 

And if Trump invests in critical energy infrastructure, U.S. companies should be able to continue to rely on domestic power for their computing needs.

There are also likely opportunities to identify specific areas within other agencies, such as the State Department, Veterans Affairs and Medicare/Medicaid, where AI can enhance the processing of applications and expedite services for users, who are no strangers to frustrating red tape.

During his previous term, Trump spearheaded Operation Warp Speed — a monumental effort to produce COVID-19 vaccines in record time.

The key to the initiative was investing in public-private partnerships, as the government could not do it alone.

An AI moonshot is no different, and I suspect its biggest cheerleader will be Musk, who has built an empire on public-private investments.

Federal grants for entrepreneurs could help develop AI tools targeting specific government inefficiencies; businesses could benefit from federal funding for training and upskilling programs; and U.S. tech companies could ensure their place at the forefront of innovation with subsidized access to the massive computational power required for AI development.

If we truly want to improve government processes, we need to empower smaller entrepreneurs who understand the specific challenges firsthand — and have the expertise to address them.

The final piece of the moonshot almost seems counterintuitive: stronger regulations around ethics, risk management and interoperability.

The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), part of the Department of Commerce, has made substantial progress on this front in recent years with its robust-yet-flexible AI Risk Management Framework (RMF).

We should continue empowering NIST to drive regulatory and ethical standards that give American businesses a competitive edge. By providing robust governance guidelines, NIST helps safeguard their information and infrastructure against cyber threats.

And while Musk may be well-positioned to help guide this moonshot, it remains imperative that perspectives from diverse stakeholder groups, including business owners and enterprises from underrepresented groups, are incorporated into the development and implementation of AI policies and regulations. 

Just as the Trump administration did with Operation Warp Speed, a spirit of urgency and optimism fueled innovations that would have been hard to believe if they weren’t so real and tangible.

Trump has the opportunity to do it again with an AI moonshot.

Instead of trade wars based on tariffs, the U.S. can secure its place as a global trade and technology leader by investing in AI to drive innovation, create jobs and protect national security in a rapidly changing world.

Patrick E. Murphy is a former member of Congress from Florida, currently serves on President Biden’s Export Council, is the Chief Investment Officer of Coastal Construction in Miami, and is the founder of Togal.AI, which applies artificial intelligence to the pre-construction process.