The accelerating global race in biotechnology has amplified the strategic imperative for the United States to modernize its research and development (R&D) infrastructure, particularly as competing nations integrate advanced digital technologies at scale. Biotechnology innovation increasingly depends on the rapid generation, analysis, and translation of complex multimodal data, spanning genomics, proteomics, synthetic biology, biomanufacturing, and clinical discovery pipelines. Traditional R&D systems often fragmented, manually intensive, and slow to adapt struggle to meet the demands of modern bio-innovation ecosystems that require high-throughput experimentation, real-time analytics, and computationally efficient design–build–test–learn cycles. Against this backdrop, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative enabler capable of optimizing laboratory workflows, accelerating discovery timelines, and enhancing national competitiveness in key biotech domains. This article examines how AI-enhanced R&D modernization can strengthen U.S. leadership in biotechnology by addressing structural inefficiencies, integrating scalable digital platforms, and expanding computational capacity across federal laboratories, academic institutions, and private-sector innovation hubs. At a broader level, we evaluate the foundational infrastructure gaps including outdated instrumentation, siloed data architectures, and limited automation that hinder alignment with global best practices. Narrowing the focus, the article explores specific AI-driven interventions such as autonomous lab systems, predictive biological modeling, intelligent data harmonization, and advanced simulation environments for biomanufacturing optimization. Collectively, these capabilities offer the potential to reduce development costs, mitigate supply chain vulnerabilities, expand biosecurity readiness, and support the emerging bioeconomy. By articulating a strategic framework centered on digital modernization, workforce enablement, and multistakeholder collaboration, the article proposes a pathway for ensuring the United States retains its competitive edge in biotechnology innovation in an era defined by accelerated global technological convergence.