The Defense Department built the original internet — and Google, Microsoft, Amazon and others expanded it. The National Institutes of Health funded laboratory experiments — and pharmaceutical companies created treatments based on them, including for Covid-19. There are similar stories in energy, automobiles, aviation and other industries. In recent decades, however, American investment in research and development has lagged.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/briefing/federal-scientific-research-democrats-stalled.html
