Central South Dakota News

U.S. Senators Mike Rounds, Cory Booker, and Martin Heinrich have jointly introduced the AI Grand Challenges Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at advancing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the benefit of the United States. The bill directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an AI Grand Challenges Program that will administer prize competitions with minimum prizes of $1 million to incentivize researchers, entrepreneurs, and innovators to harness AI to address specific challenges across various sectors.

Senator Mike Rounds emphasized the transformative potential of AI in fields such as science, technology, and healthcare, stating, "The ability to make headway in the fields of science, technology and especially health care will be revolutionary and could even lead to the cures of many diseases. Grand challenges have proven successful in the ways to advance towards new scientific discoveries. AI advancements will improve the quality of life for all Americans. The sky is the limit."

Senator Cory Booker highlighted the importance of prize competitions in encouraging innovative solutions, particularly in the realm of AI, saying, "Grand challenges and prize competitions can encourage creative solutions to complex problems using science, technology, and innovation. The time has come for a prize program to further encourage innovation in artificial intelligence."

Senator Martin Heinrich emphasized the need for AI advancements to benefit all Americans, stating, "AI’s potential should be accessible to all Americans — not just a limited few in Silicon Valley." He further expressed his support for the bill to ensure that emerging AI technology improves the quality of life for working families in New Mexico.

The AI Grand Challenges Act aims to leverage the potential of AI to address a wide range of challenges, including bias mitigation, content provenance, explainability, and specific issues in sectors like health, energy, environment, national security, materials science, and cybersecurity. By building on the momentum of AI-driven innovations in areas such as protein structure prediction, material discovery, and medical screening, the bill seeks to support the development of new technologies that will benefit society as a whole.