Exclusive: American tech leaders urge Congress to embrace a “whole of society” approach on AI, quantum computing, and semiconductors
A bipartisan national security coalition is urging Congress to embrace the “whole of society” approach America took to winning the Cold War, and to “align around policies that both counter China’s ambitions and accelerate innovation here at home,” following the House’s week of legislation designed to counter the Chinese Communist Party.
“If policymakers fail to embrace private sector companies as essential strategic partners in our tech competition with China, we will lose this race, and hand China a decades-long advantage in national security, economic prosperity, and the advance of their values, not ours,” Doug Kelly, the CEO of the American Edge Project, wrote, in a letter first obtained by the Washington Reporter.
Kelly’s organization is composed of bipartisan organizations and individuals who “believe that America and its leaders must do everything in our power to stay ahead in the race for global tech leadership, especially in the face of foreign adversaries such as China working swiftly and strategically to overtake us.”
While Kelly’s latest letter focuses primarily on the need for “AI leadership” to harness the benefits that the technology can offer to “our economy, small business sector and research and development capabilities in spaces like healthcare, life sciences, energy, agriculture and so much more,” he also wants Congress to prioritize “policymaking [that] promotes U.S. leadership and standard setting in critical and emerging technologies such as quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, cybersecurity and more.”
The House passed a series of bills last week to counter China’s “dominance of electric vehicles” and ensure that “foreign, agriculture-related investments — including those by CCP-linked entities — are heavily scrutinized.”
“As you convene in the weeks ahead to deliberate and move China-related legislation,” Kelly wrote, his organization wants to “underscore the urgency of considering all policies through the prism of whether they risk handing China an edge in the global tech race.”