December 23, 2019
America Desperately Needs AI Talent, Immigrants Included
The United States is engaged in a global technology competition in artificial intelligence. But while the US government has shown commitment to developing AI systems that will positively transform the American economy and national security, the country has neglected its most important resource: talent. Talent is the bedrock of technological advancement in AI.
While some of these needed experts are US-born, high-skilled immigrants are an indispensable component of America’s technological ecosystem. In a new report from the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), “The American AI Century: A Blueprint for Action,” my colleagues and I explain why the US needs international talent for continued AI innovation, and provide recommendations for how the country can attract and retain the best AI talent in the world.
Exact numbers vary, but a clear shortage of AI talent exists. While the US is working to develop a more robust indigenous STEM talent base, it will take decades to develop a new generation of American-born AI engineers and technologists. Immigrants are, and will remain, an invaluable source of innovation in the United States.
Read the full article in Breaking Defense.
More from CNAS
-
Reports
Technology & National Security
The American AI Century: A Blueprint for ActionForeword By Robert O. Work We find ourselves in the midst of a technological tsunami that is inexorably reshaping all aspects of our lives. Whether it be in agriculture, finan...
By Martijn Rasser, Megan Lamberth, Ainikki Riikonen, Chelsea Guo, Michael Horowitz & Paul Scharre
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security / National Security Law
CNAS Insights | The Case for Long-Term CISA 2015 ReauthorizationLast fall, one of the United States’ most important cyber defense laws expired. For six weeks, the private sector no longer had legal protections to share critical cyber threa...
By Carrie Cordero & Morgan Peirce
-
Commentary
Technology & National Security
Taiwan Is the Key to AI DominanceA country determined to win the defining technological race of the century can’t allow its chief rival to control the industrial base on which that race depends....
By David Feith
-
Legal Background: Distinguishing Between Law Enforcement Powers
Commentary
Matthew Kroscher is a second-year law student at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and was a spring 2026 CNAS legal intern....
By Matthew Kroscher
