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Donald Trump has declared war on science – and the consequences could threaten the very progress of our civilization. The global scientific community is in shock.
When you glance at your latest smartphone, powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip that processes voice commands in an instant, or admire an OLED display with unprecedented color depth, you rarely stop to think about the decades of scientific research behind these innovations. But maybe now is exactly the time to reflect – especially as Donald Trump’s administration launches an aggressive assault on the scientific world, a move that will inevitably impact all of us, including as consumers of technology.
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What happened?
The White House’s budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year has sent shockwaves through the American scientific community – and the reaction is far from exaggerated. We’re looking at unprecedented cuts: a 40% reduction in funding for the National Institutes of Health, a 55.8% cut to the National Science Foundation, and a 24.3% decrease in NASA’s overall budget, including a staggering 47% reduction specifically targeting the agency’s science programs.
In a world where innovation fuels the digital economy, these cuts feel like shutting off oxygen to a patient’s lungs. The National Science Foundation (NSF) – slated to receive just \$3.9 billion, down from its current \$8.8 billion – isn’t some abstract bureaucratic entity. Back in the 1990s, the NSF funded the foundational research into reinforcement learning, the very technology powering today’s AI chatbots and intelligent systems. The same systems that will soon be at the core of your next smartphone or laptop.
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Shortsightedness with long-term consequences
The proposed cuts hit fundamental research especially hard – the kind of research that doesn’t deliver immediate results, but lays the groundwork for future technological breakthroughs. As one computer science professor told Axios, “If you take a shortsighted approach and assume that industry can handle short-term research while ignoring long-term consequences, you’re setting yourself up to lose. That’s exactly where we’re headed if we slash this funding.”
Did you know that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip – the one so adept at handling built-in AI tasks – is the product of years of research, both commercial and government-funded? In the first quarter of 2024, Qualcomm’s revenue from Chinese OEMs grew by more than 40% thanks to demand for this chip. But such success doesn’t come out of nowhere – it’s the result of a research ecosystem where public funding supports the riskiest, most long-term projects.
When political ideology trumps facts
The main concern is not only the budget cuts themselves but also the reasoning behind them. The White House highlights the need to halt funding for climate research, clean energy sciences, social, behavioral, and economic sciences, as well as programs in what it considers lower-priority scientific fields. At NASA, the cuts reduce the priority of climate monitoring satellites and costly projects like the Mars Sample Return mission.
This is not simply a shift in priorities – it’s a systematic attack on the independence of scientific research. As Pamela Gerd from the University of Michigan noted: “It’s not that you can’t improve the way science is funded. What the Trump administration is doing threatens to kill the ‘golden goose’ that is American science.”
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When China is waiting for you with open arms
While the United States voluntarily weakens its scientific standing, China is not wasting time. In terms of purchasing power parity, China may already be reaching parity with the U.S. in overall R\&D spending, and the trajectory suggests it will soon surpass the U.S. by a significant margin.
What does this mean for you, the electronics enthusiast? Simply put, the innovation hub may shift eastward. It’s in China where the most groundbreaking research on new materials for batteries, displays, or integrated circuits could emerge. Here, next-generation AI algorithms could be developed. Meanwhile, American companies, long leaders in electronic innovation, might find themselves left behind.
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Universities create their own funds, but this is not enough
In response to government cuts, American universities are ramping up the commercialization of research. As noted by AUTM CEO Steven Susalka: “Many universities in the U.S. are developing internal venture funds to advance technologies created in university labs. A prime example is The House Fund, which recently launched a fund to invest in AI research at the University of California, Berkeley – specifically in response to federal cuts.”
But let’s not kid ourselves – private funding won’t replace comprehensive government support. AUTM research shows a direct correlation between the amount of research funding universities receive from the federal government and the number of inventions submitted for patenting. Less funding means fewer patents, fewer innovations, and fewer breakthrough technologies.
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From the lab to your living room – the knowledge chain is broken
The effects of these restrictions won’t be immediate, but in a few years, we may feel their impact painfully. As Susalka predicts, the effects of the cuts may not be felt right away, but will manifest after several years when there is a shortage of invention filings. This will ripple through the entire chain. So, in 10 years, the number of new medical drugs on the market could actually decrease. The same applies to new materials for electronics, breakthrough algorithms, or innovative energy solutions.
To be specific – let’s mention the CHIPS Act, an \$11 billion program designed to ensure U.S. leadership in semiconductor research and development. Such initiatives are now at risk, as are materials research for the next generation of semiconductors using AI and autonomous experiments (CARISSMA). And semiconductors are the heart of every electronic device you own.
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The cost of ignorance
Around 1,900 distinguished scientists, members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, issued an open letter warning that the country’s scientific infrastructure is facing vandalism. This dramatic plea is not an exaggeration – it is a cry of despair from a community witnessing the destruction of eighty years of building American scientific power in just a few months.
Science historian Robert Proctor calls what is happening the golden age of ignorance. Indeed, we face a paradox – at a time when technology and science could solve our greatest problems, from climate change to neurodegenerative diseases, we are choosing policies that take these tools away from us.
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When politics precedes logic
Under normal circumstances, budget cuts are part of the political cycle. But the current situation is unprecedented. As climate policy researcher Rachel Cleetus notes, “For some agencies, it seems the plan is to ‘cut until they can no longer fulfill their mission.'” This is not simply a shift in priorities – it is the dismantling of the entire system.
This war on science in the United States is part of a global decline in academic freedom. Last year, 45.5% of the world’s population, or 3.6 billion people, lived in environments without such freedom. The fact that the United States is joining this trend is deeply concerning.
A voice in defense of reason
This should not be the case. History shows that science can survive difficult periods. But for that to happen, we need active participation and an understanding that the war on science is a war against progress, against innovation, and against the future.
Science is neither left nor right. Semiconductors have no political preferences. The laws of physics don’t vote in elections. But it is up to us, as individuals, to decide whether we want a society based on knowledge and facts, or one based on ideology and ignorance.
In the clash between politics and the laws of nature, nature always prevails. The question is, whose side will we be on – the consumers, technology enthusiasts, citizens of a world based on science? Because in this war, there are no bystanders. There is only the future, which we will either defend together or lose together.
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