4 December 2025 : Turing Laureates & Tech Leaders Warn That Federal Funding Cuts Imperil US Innovation

Turing Laureates & Tech Leaders Warn That Federal Funding Cuts Imperil US Innovation

In a Special Section, Top Innovators Show How Government Investments Ignited Trillion Dollar Industries and Transformed Modern Life

New York, NY, December 4, 2025 - In response to extensive funding cuts to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and other government agencies, editors of Communications of the ACM (CACM) have compiled Federal Funding of Academic Research, a special section of related articles. Contributing authors to the section include recipients of the ACM A.M Turing Award-the "Nobel Prize in Computing." Each author draws from their own experiences to explain how federal support laid the foundation for critical breakthroughs and outline why the reductions are so detrimental to America's future. The collection communicates with clarity how public research funding over decades, transformative innovation, and economic growth are all inextricably linked.

The special section editors, Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientific Officer of Microsoft; Margaret Martonosi, Professor at Princeton University; and Moshe Y. Vardi, Professor at Rice University-joined by James Larus, Professor Emeritus at EPFL and Editor-in-Chief of Communications of the ACM-note the following in their introductory article, "Keeping the Dream Alive: The Power and Promise of Federally Funded Research."

"Federal funding of basic research sparked and sustained the modern technological revolution. These achievements didn't materialize in a vacuum. They emerged from a virtuous cycle: federally funded, curiosity-driven research sparks visionary ideas and trains world-class talent. Industry recruits that talent and builds on those ideas, creating products that open new markets and inspire further inquiry."

A.M. Turing Award recipients participating in the section include Andrew G. Barto (2024 recipient for contributions to reinforcement learning, a cornerstone of modern AI), Jack Dongarra (2021 recipient for contributions to numerical software and parallel computing), as well as John Hennessy and David Patterson (2017 recipients for contributions which have had an enduring impact on the microprocessor industry). They join other computing luminaries who contributed to the section. The first installment of articles were included in the December print edition of the magazine and are available on the Communications of the ACM website. Additional articles will be rolled out on the website as part of this section over the next several weeks.

In his article, Andrew Barto, Professor Emeritus of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, spells out the difference between basic research-primarily funded by government agencies-and applied research, which is typically supported by the private sector.

"Basic research is necessary to set science and engineering off in new, potentially profitable, directions," Barto writes. "Applied research is necessary to use discoveries to achieve a goal-for example, to build a new technology. The funding that supported the research that led to Richard Sutton and I receiving the 2024 ACM A.M. Turing Award for our work developing reinforcement learning (RL) was for purely curiosity-driven basic research-that is, for exploration."

In his piece, John Hennessy, Chairman of Alphabet Inc. and former President of Stanford University, points to another central technology of modern life that was seeded with government funding. "The birth of the Internet is a prime example of (federal agencies providing crucial early-stage capital)," he writes. "In the late 1960s, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated the ARPANET project…This initial investment in packet-switching technology and network protocols, driven by national security concerns, laid the groundwork for what would become the global Internet."

"This special section reveals how federally funded, curiosity-driven research led to breakthrough computing technologies that transformed how we communicate, work, learn, discover, and heal," said section co-editor Eric Horvitz. "The stories show just how powerful and essential our national investments in bold research have been."

"Our main challenge is that we make it hard for the public to really understand how federal funding from their tax dollars launched so many transformative technologies," adds section co-editor Margaret Martonosi, "So, the primary goal of this section is educational. We've assembled a selection of America's premiere technologists to explain in their own words how their innovations got started with government support, and what transformative impact they've had down the line. We hope in turn that the CACM readership will help relay these stories to their taxpayer neighbors, to the folks ahead of them in the supermarket line, and to their congressional representatives and staffers. The overarching message is that our future depends on these strategic investments."

Articles published thus far include:

"Federal Research Investment and Innovation in Information Technology: A Virtuous Cycle"
Federal investment in research, particularly in the dynamic and rapidly evolving field of computing, is not merely an expenditure but a strategic imperative.
*In this advocacy piece, John Hennessy provides broad context to frame the subsequent articles in which authors tie federal funding to their specific technical achievements.
By John Hennessy

"How the US National Science Foundation Enabled Software-Defined Networking"
The investments NSF made in SDN over the past two decades helped revolutionize network design and operation across public and private sectors.
By Nick McKeown and Jennifer Rexford

"Rediscovering Reinforcement Learning"
The initial development of modern RL was purely exploratory; projects at UMass critically depended on basic research support from AFOSR and NSF.
By Andrew G. Barto

"Durable Engines of Discovery"
The future of federal investment, which has shaped the course of computing research, now hangs in the balance.
By Jack Dongarra

"The Innovation Engine: Government-Funded Academic Research"
A look at the five highest-impact projects of a lauded academic career.
By David Patterson

"Federal Funding Supports the Flow of Innovation"
We have over six decades of evidence to show that this powerful ecosystem works.
*The section closes out with this Q&A between CACM writer Leah Hoffman and Elizabeth Mynatt, Dean of Computer Sciences, Khoury College, Northeastern University. Mynatt discusses the findings of a 2020 report she co-chaired which analyzes the relationship between IT research and economic growth.
By Leah Hoffman

"The TRIPS Project"
Government funding helped the TRIPS project to create the widely used methodologies and technologies for memory systems, on-chip microprocessor design, and compilers.
By Doug Burger, Stephen W. Keckler, and Kathryn S. McKinley

"From University Research to Global Impact"
Researchers discuss the foundational role of academia in Google's inception, the long-term impact of federally funded research, and stories behind key innovations.
By Magdalena Balazinska, Jeff Dean, Urs Hölzle, and Parthasarathy Ranganathan

"Advancing AI in Agriculture through Large-Scale Collaborative Research"
A broad ecosystem of research in AI and ML is effecting change in agricultural decision making while advancing use-inspired and foundational AI techniques.
By Vikram Adve, Steve Brown, Alan Fern, Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, Ananth Kalyanaraman, Shashi Shekhar, Ilias Tagkopoulos, and Jessica Wedow

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers, and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources, and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.