Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist, said the Trump administration’s tariffs and federal spending cuts could hurt America’s competitiveness in artificial intelligence and give China the upper hand.
Tariffs are “in fact helping China across its entire industry,” Hoffman said on Friday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. For example, if Europe sees the country as a more “stable trading partner” for manufacturing and technology, “it creates better global markets for China and worse for the US,” he said.
A high-profile supporter of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Hoffman clashed with other tech leaders, including Elon Musk, over his support for the Democrat.
Recently, Hoffman has raised concerns about Musk’s efforts to reshape the US government and slash federal spending. In Friday’s interview, Hoffman said the administration’s funding cuts for science labs, research and universities will adversely impact America’s advantage in technology.
“Science is one of the ways we got our American technology advantage,” he said. “It’s like saying, hey, let’s put concrete overshoes on both legs and run a marathon.”
The Trump administration’s moves to reduce the government’s role in funding and guiding AI research has become a hot-button issue in the industry. Critics say cuts will give China an advantage. The White House’s science and technology director Michael Kratsios has said that the US has to make “smart choices” on funding, including rethinking where research dollars go.
Hoffman, a partner at VC firm Greylock Partners, has had an extensive career in AI. He was an early investor in OpenAI, and co-founded Inflection AI. Earlier this year, Hoffman co-founded Manas AI, a drug discovery company, which recently raised $24.6 million in seed funding.
With assistance from Ed Ludlow and Caroline Hyde.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
