White House cuts data centers and batteries from US tech list
The landscape of national security priorities just got a serious refresh. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has rolled out a renewed National Security Science & Technology Strategy, fundamentally reshaping how the government views and funds critical technologies. At the heart of this shift is the Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET) list, which has been completely rewritten, shrinking the scope from 18 categories down to 14.
This isn’t just an administrative tweak; it reflects a massive realignment of where the nation is placing its technological bets. Certain established areas have been streamlined or entirely redefined. Technologies like advanced gas turbine engine technologies, which once occupied a large segment of the list, have no direct successor. Similarly, the realm of human-machine interfaces has seen a major pivot, pulling augmented and virtual reality, and human-machine teaming into new conceptual spaces. Even clean energy generation and storage were consolidated into a single category focusing on advanced fission, fusion, and radiation-resistant materials.
The biggest adjustments, however, are happening in the world of computing and artificial intelligence. The advanced computing category was renamed future computing technologies, and some popular areas were dropped. This includes advanced cloud services, high-performance data storage, and data centers. This move reflects a strategic decision to shift funding emphasis, telling agencies to rely more on the private sector for developing capacity, especially as hyperscalers continue to build infrastructure.
In place of the old categories, new focuses emerged. Future computing now embraces edge computing for tactical environments, alongside photonic and neuromorphic modalities, and advanced spatial computing. Data centers, meanwhile, were removed from the federal list, recognizing that their massive buildout fits better within private investment strategies.
The AI focus also underwent a significant transformation. Categories related to AI safety, trust, and assurance were replaced by requirements for interpretability and control, and adversarial robustness and AI security. Furthermore, AI and autonomy absorbed previous robotics and uncrewed systems, expanding their focus to include multi-agent systems, swarm intelligence, and distributed machine learning. The new framework recognizes world systems as a distinct class of foundation models, signaling a move toward more complex, distributed intelligence.
On the hardware front, the semiconductor category also saw critical additions. Emerging technologies like post-quantum cryptography—essential for securing future communication against quantum computing threats—and integrated photonics were introduced for the first time. The list also brought in high entropy alloys, integrated photonics, and “hardened operating systems for consumer use.” This highlights an immediate focus on both quantum security and advanced material science.
The semiconductor category specifically expanded to include new frontiers. Integrated photonics and 2D materials are the key additions here, recognizing their importance in next-generation microelectronics. This expansion, alongside focus areas like heterogeneous integration and advanced packaging, positions chips not just as a frontier to push, but as foundational infrastructure to secure. Ultimately, the updated strategy maps these complex technologies against national security needs, ensuring that funding and research priorities align with the most pressing future challenges.
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