In addition, there is no comprehensive government entity. Israel is behind compared to the progress of regulation in the European Union where there is already legislation that regulates the use of artificial intelligence according to risk levels
Yesterday, the State Comptroller's report was published on the national preparation in the field of computing and cyber in general and artificial intelligence in particular as of November 2024. In the months of June 2023 - March 2024, the State Comptroller's office examined the national preparation in the field of artificial intelligence, Israel's international ranking in this field and the actions of the government and government ministries to promote a national program for artificial intelligence. The audit was carried out in the Ministry of Innovation, the Innovation Authority, the Ministry of Defense, the Planning and Budgeting Committee, the Ministry of Finance and the National Security Headquarters in the Prime Minister's Office. Completion tests were done in the national digital system at the Ministry of Economy and Industry.
Key data
- National strategy: Israel does not have a long-term national strategy or a comprehensive master plan in the field of artificial intelligence.
- budget: The government approved a budget of about one billion NIS in two installments, but most of it has not yet been realized; the budget is about a fifth of the recommendation of the Telam Committee.
- International status: A drop in Israel's rankings in the Tortoise and Oxford international indexes.
- Budget application: 40% of the budget of the first pulse has been realized, only 11% in the field of supercomputing, 55% in the fields of human capital, and 76% in the field of natural language processing.
The absence of a comprehensive government body entrusted with leading a national program in the field of artificial intelligence - In accordance with the government's decision and the agreement between the Minister of Innovation and the head of the National Assembly, in July 2022 the Ministry of Innovation, under the leadership of the then minister, formulated a national plan for artificial intelligence. However, it was found that after the change of government in January 2023, the Ministry of Innovation did not act as stipulated in the government's decision to promote and lead the field of artificial intelligence , the plan launched by the ministry, did not get on track for actual implementation after the establishment of the 37th government, and therefore did not come In order to realize the milestones set in the plan, it was found that since the change of government, the ministry has reduced its activities to specific issues in the field of artificial intelligence in Israel and has not led the promotion of the field at the national level.
A retreat in Israel's ranking in the field of artificial intelligence - Israel aspires to be a leading country in the fields of technology and high-tech. The audit revealed that in the years 2019-2024, Israel's place in the global ranking of its activity and investment in the field of artificial intelligence decreased - in the Tortoise index, a drop from 5th place out of 62 countries to 9th place out of 83 countries, in the Oxford index, a drop from 20th place to 30th place out of 193 countries, and in the innovation index Dropping from 10th place to 15th place out of 133 countries. This withdrawal is explained, among other things, by the findings detailed in this report regarding the actions of the government in approving, leading and implementing a broad national program in the field of artificial intelligence. It should be noted that the Tortoise sub-indices data for 2024 show that while Israel has strengths in the human capital category, in research and development and trade, it is weak - in government strategy (32nd place); in infrastructure (26th place); and in an operational environment (65th place). Israel's decline in international rankings in the years 2019-2024, and Israel's relative position in the field of government assessments and preparedness, reflect a trend that requires the government to examine its policy on the subject.
Discussion of the recommendations of the "national project" in the government - The "National Project" was established by the appointment of the National Assembly according to the decision of the Prime Minister. The draft report of the project was presented to the Prime Minister in May 2019, and a final draft was presented to the head of the National Assembly in December of the same year. In light of the change of governments in these years, the final report was sent to all government ministries and published to the public in September 2020 and included a comprehensive plan for building a strategic national response to the field of artificial intelligence and government projects with a financial scope of NIS 10 billion. The report determined, based on the opinions of hundreds of knowledge experts who worked voluntarily For about two years, because the advancement of the field of artificial intelligence is essential for Israel's resilience in critical areas (Science, economy, security, etc.) The audit found that the project's recommendations were not submitted to the government and were not discussed in any government forum authorized to make decisions on the matter, and in any case they were not budgeted for and were not implemented. to examine the work of the "national project" soon after its completion and to bring the necessary actions to implement its recommendations for the examination of the authorized body that approved the the appointment. Also, in accordance with the agreement with the legal advisor to the Prime Minister's Office, the MLA was to establish the inter-ministerial team and submit its recommendations to the Prime Minister and the government close to the completion of the "national project" work and not only about a year and a half later.
Regulation (regulation) – Despite the risks that exist in artificial intelligence technology and the need to regulate its use in a responsible manner while preserving fundamental rights, it was found that as of the end of the audit, the joint activity of the Ministry of Innovation and the Ministry of Justice to promote regulation in the field of artificial intelligence and the principles formulated in the policy principles document have not yet been approved by the government, and that Israel is lagging behind compared to the progress of regulation in the European Union where there is already legislation that regulates the use of artificial intelligence according to levels risk. The lack of regulation in Israel in the field of artificial intelligence entails various risks that raise new legal and regulatory issues. It is necessary to make sure that despite the progress of technology, the person will remain at the center of decision-making, and that the development of artificial intelligence and its use will be carried out in a responsible and enabling manner, taking care to preserve basic rights and public interests; on human dignity and privacy; on equality and prevention of discrimination; and full transparency.
High performance computing (supercomputer) HPC Although already in 2020, the need for supercomputing infrastructures was identified as a basic and necessary condition for establishing the position of the State of Israel as a leading country in the field of artificial intelligence, at the time of the audit, about five years later, the existing computing infrastructures are limited and insufficient for the advancement of research and industry in Israel. The lack of a sufficient computing infrastructure hinders the abilities of the public sector, academia and industry to promote and develop the field of artificial intelligence.
Infrastructure for training large models - It was found that as of the end of December 2023, the date of the end of the first pulse, Mapat did not fulfill its part of the partners' agreement To arrange an infrastructure for training large models, and the Innovation Authority did not regulate an infrastructure of complex calculations for scientific use, both of which lay a foundation for the advancement of artificial intelligence technology. Therefore, the rate of realization of the first pulse in this area in favor of the advancement of artificial intelligence was only 11%, about 30 million NIS out of the 270 million NIS that were approved. NLP natural language processing - The Telam Committee determined that the development of the field of natural language processing is of the utmost importance, and that this field is essential for the use of artificial intelligence capabilities in government ministries and other industries. Therefore, the plan defined as a central goal the reduction of the significant technological gap between the capabilities available in the field of language processing in English and other Latin languages and The corresponding abilities that exist in Hebrew and Arabic.
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