IBM CEO urges the Trump Administration to increase — not cut — federal AI R&D funding

Like many technology leaders, Arvind Krishna, the CEO of IBM, believes that federal R&D financing for AI and related technologies should be increased – not the other way around.

“We have been an extremely strong supporter – and this is both the company and I personally – about the government funded by the government,” Kirshna said in an interview with WAN. “That is the position that is unambiguous, and we strongly believe in that.”

President Donald Trump and his cabinet have tried to make deep cuts on federal subsidy and scientific research programs in the pursuit of a much different series of priorities than previous administrations.

In recent weeks, an important federal office for AI Research, the Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) has been hit by Steep budget reductions. In the meantime, dozens of employees of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is tip, have been on the chopping block.

In Proposed budget for the tax year 2026The Trump government calls on the congress to beat more than half of the financing of the NSF, so that what it describes eliminates as wasting and “awake” outputs. The risk is the Billions of dollars Awarded to AI R&D projects by the NSF and other federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, which are also confronted with cuts.

Trump has also threatened to terminate the Chips Act, an important law from the Biden era that wanted to stimulate domestic semiconductor production in the US, including the production of specialized chips for AI. The office responsible for managing chips acts was Largely escaped at the beginning of March.

Technical industrial groups, including the Software and Information Industry Association, have sent letters to the White House AI “Tsar” David Sacks and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Warning that the reductions can bump the worldwide leadership of America in AI. According to the US Joint Economic CommitteeFederally funded research yields an annual returns of 25-40%, with favorable in comparison with The 15-27% return achieved by VC funds from Top Quarter.

“We believe that [federal R&D funding] now [is] Happens at the historic lows in terms of the percentage of GDP, “Krishna told WAN,” and that more federally financed R&D has an incredibly positive effect on the economy, on economic growth, on the competitiveness of the United States, and also in investing in many technologies. “

IBM was directly affected by federal cuts. During the income call in April in the first quarter in April, the company revealed 15 of its federal contracts, for an amount of $ 100 million in future payments. Federal contracts represent between 5% and slightly less than 10% of IBM’s advisory practice.

Krishna, who quickly noted that federal financing is only a fraction of the general company of IBM, said that he is ‘optimistic’ that the government will increase the R&D expenditure within a year.

‘I will tell you that I expect that in a year […] Federally financed R&D for AI, for Quantum, for semiconductors – I expect it to be so good or in a better form than now, “said Krishna.