Creating a National DeepTech Capital Fund
Summary
The Biden-Harris Administration should establish a National DeepTech Capital Fund (NDTC Fund) to bridge capital gaps and enable more DeepTech entrepreneurs to bring promising and beneficial technologies to market.
Greater investment in DeepTech is critical in order to return the United States to the forefront of advanced science and technology research and development (R&D). “DeepTech” refers to companies and innovators building science-based, or R&D-based, products and services including hardware and advanced materials, robotics, manufacturing, and biotech. U.S. government investment in technology has declined by two-thirds in the past decades. Private capital typically eschews investment in advanced technologies, due to a combination of the additional expertise needed for and risks inherent to advanced-technology investment. Silicon Valley’s early days were cushioned by government risk capital at a time when the private sector could not see the value of investing in R&D. But relying entirely on Silicon Valley to drive investment in innovation has led the U.S. to a point where it risks being replaced by other innovation centers such as China. A National DeepTech Capital Fund would encourage and enable investment in companies building solutions to society’s greatest challenges, while ensuring that the United States remains at the center of global innovation.
At this inflection point, the choice is not between speed and safety but between ungoverned acceleration and a calculated momentum that allows our strategic AI advantage to be both sustained and secured.
Improved detection could strengthen deterrence, but only if accompanying hazards—automation bias, model hallucinations, exploitable software vulnerabilities, and the risk of eroding assured second‑strike capability—are well managed.
A dedicated and properly resourced national entity is essential for supporting the development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI to drive widespread adoption, by providing sustained, independent technical assessments and emergency coordination.
Congress should establish a new grant program, coordinated by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, to assist state and local governments in addressing AI challenges.