The United States currently leads the world in nanotechnology development. It lent its support to nanotechnology R&D as a national imperative from an early stage, and in January 2000 then president Bill Clinton issued a message entitled the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), which presented concrete targets for nanotechnology development. Among the breakthroughs that the NNI hopes to achieve are:

 · Shrinking the entire contents of the Library of Congress into a device
   the size of a sugar cube by achieving multi-terabit memory capacity
 · Making materials and products using the bottom-up approach
 · Developing materials that are 10 times stronger than steel for making
   all kinds of vehicles lighter and more fuel efficient
 · Improving the computing speed and efficiency of minuscule transistors
   and memory chips by factors of millions
 · Using gene and drug delivery to detect and attack cancerous cells in the
   human body
 · Removing the finest contaminants from water and air
 · Doubling the energy efficiency of solar cells

The United States looks likely to extend its lead. Its government has promoted nanotechnology research at breakneck pace, boosting the NNI budget by 20-40% each year since 2001, to $847 million in 2004.

>>U.S. government budget for nanotechnology