Growing the Commitment to Public Service in the Technology Ecosystem

By Deirdre K. Mulligan, Principal Deputy US Chief Technology Officer

Last fall, President Biden launched a National AI Talent Surge to recruit AI professionals and bring their experience, expertise, and vision into government. The goal of this talent surge is to execute on the bold priorities he set out in his executive order to promote the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of AI.

Thousands of mission-driven AI professionals have already answered the call and applied to work in the federal government. Federal agencies and tech talent programs—including the U.S. Digital Corps, the Presidential Innovation Fellows, and the U.S. Digital Service—are hiring hundreds of AI professionals  to support critical AI priorities across federal agencies.

This influx of AI talent is key to advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s AI agenda. These new federal employees have helped develop policy for the safe and trustworthy use of AI in government, and they are informing efforts to use AI to improve electrical grid resilience and to expedite permitting. They will be working to ensure that powerful AI models are safe for the public, and working with our international partners to align our AI efforts around the world.

Technical experts are key to this effort—and they come from a wide-range of backgrounds, from academia to industry and everything in between. To fully answer the President’s call to service, we must continue to grow the culture of public service across the tech ecosystem. To bolster those efforts, later this summer, OSTP intends to highlight progress toward cultivating public service in the technology ecosystem. We welcome information about what your organization is doing at NAIIO@OSTP.eop.gov.

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