In assessing the outgoing Biden administration, much of the news has focused on inflation, immigration or Hunter's laptop. But as a national science and technology competitiveness expert, my focus is different. My research shows that America's prosperity and security depend in large part on the country's ability to produce cutting-edge science and technology.
So, how is the Biden administration doing on this front?
Advancing epidemic science and technology
President Joe Biden's immediate challenge after taking office is to end the COVID-19 pandemic and then get the economy back up and running.
First, he devoted government efforts to vaccine production and distribution. Thanks to President Donald Trump's Operation Warp Speed, vaccinations began in mid-December 2020. But there is no nationwide rollout and no plans. When Biden took office, only about 5% of Americans had been vaccinated.
The Biden administration is working with private retail chains to build cold storage and distribution capacity. Biden has worked to support major drugmakers in an effort to ensure adequate vaccine supply. Throughout, Biden has launched a public relations campaign to inform, educate and inspire Americans to get vaccinated.
In the first 10 weeks of Biden's presidency, one-third of the U.S. population had received at least one dose of vaccine, half by the end of May, and more than 70% by the end of the year. As Americans get vaccinated, travel bans are lifted, schools reopen and business gradually returns to normal.
A later study found that Biden's vaccination plan prevented more than 3.2 million deaths and 18.5 million hospitalizations, and saved $1.15 trillion in medical costs and lost economic output.
Biden signed two bills with immediate and broad impacts on science and technology in the wake of the economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous administrations have promised infrastructure investment, but Biden has delivered. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed with bipartisan support in late 2021, provides $1.2 trillion for various types of infrastructure.
The bill goes beyond rebuilding, prioritizing technology upgrades: clean water, clean energy, rural high-speed internet, modernizing public transportation and airports, and grid reliability.
In August 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which totaled $739 billion in tax credits and direct spending. This is the largest climate change legislation in U.S. history. It implements massive subsidies and incentives to develop and distribute clean and renewable energy, environmental protection and the science and technology needed to combat climate change.
Tech tents and sleepers
Some of the Biden administration’s technological achievements are already quite evident. For example, Biden has successfully pushed to increase federal funding for research and development. From 2021 to 2024, federal R&D funding increases by 25%. Recipients include the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NASA and the Department of Defense. In addition, Biden will oversee investments in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and their responsible governance.
Biden has also retained or raised Trump's tariffs and continued his predecessor's skepticism about new free trade agreements, cementing a protectionist turn in U.S. trade policy. Biden would complement this by adding protectionist industrial policies — subsidies for domestic manufacturing and innovation, as well as “Buy American” provisions.
Other achievements are even less well known. For example, Biden established the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships Directorate within the National Science Foundation to improve U.S. economic competitiveness. Its mission is to accelerate the development of breakthrough technologies, accelerate their transition to market, and retrain and upskill American workers into high-quality jobs with higher wages.
Biden has implemented policies designed to strengthen and improve federal scientific integrity to help citizens feel they can trust federally funded science and its use. He also proposed new measures to improve research security, aimed at preventing foreign entities from improperly accessing federally funded research.
Chips and Science Act
The crown jewel of Biden’s tech agenda is the bipartisan Creating Conducive Incentives for Semiconductor Production (CHIPS) and the Science Act, which aim to strengthen U.S. manufacturing capabilities for advanced semiconductor chips. It has awarded about $40 billion to U.S. chipmakers, prompting private investment of another $450 billion in more than 90 new manufacturing projects in 28 states.
CHIPS Act subsidies target everything from advanced packaging to memory chips, lowering the private cost of domestic semiconductor production. CHIPS also promotes the availability of these new manufacturing jobs at high wages to American workers. Although the United States produced only a small amount of the most advanced chips two years ago, the industry expects that by 2032, the United States will account for 28% of global production capacity.
The “science” part of the CHIPS Act is less well known. For example, it has invested $500 million in dozens of regional innovation and technology centers across the country. The centers focus on a broad range of strategic areas, including critical materials, sustainable polymers, precision medicine and medical devices. More than 30 technology centers have been designated, such as the Elevate Quantum Technology Center in Denver and the Wisconsin BioHealth Technology Center.
The CHIPS Act also aims to expand participation in science. It does this by improving tracking and funding of research and STEM education for hitherto underrepresented Americans - by region, occupation, race, gender, institution and socioeconomic background. It also seeks to expand the impact of federally funded research to address global challenges such as supply chain disruption, resource waste and energy security.
Missed opportunities and future possibilities
Despite these achievements, the Biden administration still faces criticism on the technology front. Some critics claim that U.S. research security still does not adequately protect U.S. science and technology from theft or counterfeiting by competitors.
Others insist that federal R&D spending remains too low. In particular, they called for more investment in U.S. research infrastructure, such as state-of-the-art labs and data systems, as well as in emerging technologies.
The government’s government-centric approach to AI has also drawn criticism as stifling and wrong.
Personally, I am agnostic on these issues, but they are legitimate concerns. In my view, tech investments take quite a while to bear fruit, so it may be premature to make early judgments on Biden's success or failure.
Still, the next administration still has a lot of work to do. International cooperation may be key. The most intractable global problems require advances in science and technology that are beyond the capabilities of any one country. The challenge for the United States is how to cooperate in ways that complement U.S. competitiveness.
National priorities could include developing efficient and ethical artificial intelligence to help the U.S. become more competitive, as well as a new quantum computing industry. Neuroscience and "healthspan" research also hold great promise for improving U.S. competitiveness while changing Americans' life satisfaction.
Maintaining rigor across America's tech industry requires two elements from the federal government: more resources and a competitive environment. American greatness will depend on President-elect Trump’s ability to achieve these goals.