New US Science Policy Report: Private R&D Outspends Government 3-to-1

soumitrashukla9 · x · 2026-07-23

The director of the US Office of Science and Technology Policy released a major report titled "Science: A New Golden Age," framed as a successor to Vannevar Bush's 1945 report. The report diagnoses that private industry now funds $700 billion a year in R&D, more than triple the combined spending of the government and higher education. This is a complete reversal from the mid-century Bell Labs era, yet scientific productivity, such as drug approvals, has slowed despite the funding. It also reviews the history of EUV lithography, the tech behind modern chips, from its origins in Japan to development by US national labs.

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