President Donald Trump is set to declare on Thursday that American innovation is entering a "golden age," painting an optimistic vision of the future.

Scientists, however, are warning that his administration's cuts to research funding and tighter immigration policies are eroding America's standing as the world's leading scientific power.

Against a backdrop of risks posed by artificial intelligence, Trump argues that top American companies cannot afford to slow down.

On Thursday, the administration is expected to unveil a series of initiatives that harness AI to aid scientific discovery.

According to White House officials, leading companies including AMD, OpenAI and Anthropic will pledge more than $1 billion in computing capacity to support a federal AI research program.

The government will also announce the creation of a new Southeastern Regional AI Computing Alliance to enable resource sharing among 10 states, as well as a $1 billion investment in computing resources in Georgia for use by university students and faculty.

The U.S. government and universities have long struggled to compete with private companies for high-end chips and data center resources, which are costly and in high demand.

The administration will also launch programs to encourage native-born Americans to pursue doctoral degrees in science and engineering.

Foreign researchers have already chosen not to come to the United States to conduct scientific work because of the president's restrictive immigration policies.

But scientists from both parties, health researchers and political figures warn that America's edge in basic research is narrowing.

They say this erosion was already visible before Trump's second term, and that the administration's staffing cuts, adjustments to research funding and a series of shocks to the U.S. research system have accelerated the trend.

"This administration's actions are more like dragging us back to the Stone Age — the talk of a golden age sounds bizarre and absurd," said Arati Prabhakar, former director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and a member of President Biden's cabinet.

Trump's strict immigration restrictions and "America First" policies have also made foreign researchers reluctant to come to the United States or prompted them to leave.

The Trump administration claims the United States relies too heavily on overseas talent in science and engineering fields.

To address the issue, White House officials say the government will launch a $100 million program to fund outstanding American students pursuing accelerated four-year doctoral degrees, combining AI with another science or engineering discipline.

The National Science Foundation will also launch a new program allowing students to earn both a bachelor's and a doctoral degree within six years, shortening the path through advanced education.

Researchers and political figures are also alarmed by one development: the National Science Foundation has withheld more than $1 billion that Congress allocated for scientific research in the previous fiscal year.

This illustrates that the administration is acting around Congress even as lawmakers from both parties oppose cuts to research agency budgets.

Administration officials, however, defend the federal research system overhaul, saying it aims to root out waste and abuse and prioritize high-impact scientific projects.

White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement: "For years, federal research grants have flowed to politically motivated projects, with no accountability to taxpayers and no substantive results. This administration will end that waste and establish a simple principle: research funding should go to the best scientific projects, not to serve politics. That is how America maintains its global lead."

A spokesperson for the National Institutes of Health said in a statement: "The institute is committed to funding biomedical research that addresses urgent health needs, produces results that improve people's lives and creates value for taxpayers. We support research that advances public health and makes every research dollar count."

The National Science Foundation said unspent funds from the previous fiscal year will be directed to projects aligned with the administration's priorities, such as research supporting AI, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Foundation spokesperson Mike England said that under appropriations law, the funds have a two-year period of availability.

"In the coming weeks and months, the National Science Foundation will announce numerous new funding opportunities," England said in a statement. "The foundation will continue to fund high-quality basic research across science and engineering disciplines to sustain American research leadership."

The underlying operating model of federal research agencies such as the National Institutes of Health traces back to Vannevar Bush, the scientist who led work related to the atomic bomb during World War II.

In 1945, looking ahead to the postwar era, Bush urged President Harry S. Truman to promote innovation by distributing research grants to universities and research institutions, articulating the idea of the "endless frontier."

For decades, this model was credited with enabling numerous scientific breakthroughs, spawning new technologies of enormous commercial value and underpinning America's global advantage.

But Michael Kratsios, Trump's chief science adviser, argued in a report this year that as private companies play an increasingly important role in developing new technologies, the model that supported 20th-century scientific exploration "is increasingly ill-suited to present conditions."

Kratsios criticized the grant application mechanisms at universities and federal agencies, saying they cause scientists to spend large amounts of time on paperwork and administrative work.

He expressed concern that the share of native-born Americans among science and engineering graduate students is steadily declining.

He also warned that traditional research institutions are not ready to fully exploit the benefits AI brings to scientific research.

According to the meeting agenda, Kratsios is expected to deliver opening remarks at Thursday's event and moderate several fireside chats.

Other featured speakers include Energy Secretary Chris Wright and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

To address the issues raised in Kratsios's report, the administration proposes shifting federal research funding away from universities toward independent researchers, independent research institutions and nonprofit organizations.

But Berger argues that this approach violates the original philosophy behind Bush's vision of research funding.

"Instead of letting a hundred flowers bloom and slowly identifying research directions with long-term value, they are betting everything on AI," Berger said. "Betting on any single field is not a wise move."

The policy shift reflects the Trump administration's pro-industry approach, especially the president's view of AI as central to economic prosperity and growth.

While tightening federal research spending, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" backed by Trump expands or accelerates tax deductions related to corporate R&D, interest expenses and equipment purchases.

White House officials say another sign of the administration's tilt toward the private sector is that Trump will award the National Medal of Science at the summit to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AMD CEO Lisa Su; and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation to Dell CEO Michael Dell and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Some lawmakers and others are concerned about the Trump administration's efforts to overhaul the research funding system.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, and others have repeatedly opposed the White House plan to restructure NIH funding, saying it would harm U.S. competitiveness and hinder medical breakthroughs.

Within Trump's senior ranks, there are also disagreements over the best way to deploy research funds and whether further reform is needed.

White House budget chief Russell Vought plans to set up a political committee to oversee NIH grant programs, and last month he clashed with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya over the plan.

The NIH declined to comment on the dispute, and the Office of Management and Budget has not yet responded to related inquiries.

The grassroots group Stand Up for Science was formed after Trump began cutting research staff.

This week the group released a report criticizing the administration's moves to reform research funding and restructure agencies, saying the attacks are so fierce that opponents are struggling to keep up.

Cole Donovan, who worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Biden administration, wrote in the report: "It is important to recognize that the attacks on the U.S. science and technology ecosystem are broad and far-reaching, which also makes it difficult for people to mount a defense against any single policy on its own."