Administration sets 2028 goal for powerful quantum computer

The directives from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, released Tuesday in a report and a memo from Kratsios and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, aim to accelerate technological discovery to compete with China, according to the administration. The guidance will shape federal research and development budgets for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Kratsios, the OSTP director, described the current university-centered model as stagnant. “Over the last 20 or 30 years we’ve become very stagnant in believing we should keep funding the same research in the same way at the same institutions,” Kratsios said in an interview. He said he met with the leader of an Ivy League university on Tuesday who responded positively to the new approach.

The plan gives priority to programs such as National Science Foundation graduate fellowships and National Institutes of Health awards for creative scientists, which fund individuals rather than institutions. Under the new approach, individual researchers at universities would receive funding directly, minimizing university involvement in the distribution of grants.

The administration also set aggressive national goals, including deploying a powerful quantum computer by 2028 and having 10 new large nuclear reactors under construction by 2030 to boost electricity production. The Energy Department’s Genesis Mission will bring together scientific expertise and supercomputers to use AI for research challenges, partnering with the private sector and researchers.

“Agencies should fund research that uses AI as a new instrument of scientific discovery, not merely as a tool to augment existing capabilities,” Kratsios and Vought wrote in the memo.

Skeptics have cautioned that AI models remain prone to mistakes and that overemphasizing the technology could restrict the types of studies researchers pursue. The proposed changes come alongside a separate OMB rule that would give political appointees more power over grants and align research with administration priorities, a step that could further hamper universities reliant on federal funding.