Public support for research in artificial intelligence: a descriptive study of U.S. Department of Defense SBIR Projects

We describe public support for AI research in small firms using data from U.S. Department of Defense-funded SBIR projects. Ours is the first collection of firm-level project information on publicly funded R&D investments in AI. We find that the likelihood of an SBIR funded research project being focused on AI is greater the larger the amount of the SBIR award. AI-focused research projects are associated with a 7.6% increase in average award amounts. We also find suggestive evidence that the likelihood of an SBIR project being AI-focused is greater in smaller-sized firms. Finally, we find that SBIR-funded AI research is more likely to occur in states with complementary university research resources