Context. The U.S. government funds research through both grants and contracts. This question focuses only on grants.

Data and resolution details. This question resolves based on data from the Dimensions grant database. For this question, a grant is an "AI grant" if the abstract mentions either "artificial intelligence" or "machine learning." A grant is "surveillance related" if its abstract includes the term "surveillance," "facial recognition," or a variant on those terms. This question resolves when CSET receives Dimensions grant data through May 31, 2021. 

For the first third of the year in question -- not reflected in the graph below -- the U.S. government spent $1.1 million on surveillance-related AI grants. 

The data underlying the graph is here.

This question is a metric for the following scenarios:

• Tech Companies Threaten Democracy
• COVID-19 Surveillance Strengthens Authoritarian Governments

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