It is by no means clear that what is termed "AI" today is indeed the artificial intelligence that we all seek, love and fear and that will prove useful. Perhaps most current "AI" researchers are wasting their time. Perhaps not. Some useful metrics would help judge this, but in the absence of even a clear definition of intelligence I see little hope of that.
In the absence of further information I hesitate to dedicate funding preferably to "AI" based on faith alone. I might as well spend the money on cheaper and more reliable power turbines for remote wooded areas in California or finding a clean way to mine and convert coal to energy. Maybe the money would be better spent upgrading the health-care system or replacing our Navy with something more likely to survive a flurry of cheap cruise missiles.
There are an infinite number of ways to spend money and "keeping top AI talent" is far down my list.
In the absence of further information I hesitate to dedicate funding preferably to "AI" based on faith alone. I might as well spend the money on cheaper and more reliable power turbines for remote wooded areas in California or finding a clean way to mine and convert coal to energy. Maybe the money would be better spent upgrading the health-care system or replacing our Navy with something more likely to survive a flurry of cheap cruise missiles.
There are an infinite number of ways to spend money and "keeping top AI talent" is far down my list.