Op-Ed: Doug Kelly: Tech innovation will fuel America’s Golden Age

In his address to the joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump emphasized America’s future strength, security, and prosperity. Achieving that future depends on America winning the global tech race against China — and that requires urgent action by the administration and Congress to accelerate innovation.

America’s unmatched talent for innovation has been the driving force of American growth and leadership since our founding. From electricity and aviation to semiconductors and the internet, innovation and ingenuity have long powered our economy, safeguarded our national security, and advanced our democratic values globally.

Today, technology isn’t just an important industry — it is the foundation of American power and prosperity. The U.S. tech sector generates over $2 trillion annually, fueling small businesses, empowering entrepreneurs, and ensuring our military remains the most advanced on Earth. And tech’s share of the economy is expected to rise dramatically in the coming years.

Yet American technological leadership is no longer assured. In fact, it’s actively under threat.

Just two decades ago, America led in 60 of 64 critical technologies, according to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Today, that number has plummeted to seven. Meanwhile, China has surged from dominating only three of these fields to controlling 57. This staggering reversal illustrates China’s ambition and the threat it poses to America’s future prosperity and security.

This isn’t happening by accident. Rather, it's the direct result of China’s strategic planning, sustained investment, and clear national mission to dominate critical technologies. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pouring $2.8 trillion into boosting their technological capabilities while stealing upwards of $500 billion annually in American intellectual property and technology. They have homed in on artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, semiconductors, and biotechnology as strategic priorities. They understand what some in Washington seem to have forgotten: in the 21st Century, technology is geopolitical power.

This race against China is about more than just technology — it’s a battle of values, security, and economic power. If the CCP succeeds, it will dictate the global rules for these technologies. Our national security would be compromised as Beijing gains access to critical infrastructure, sensitive data, and high-powered hacking tools. Our economy would suffer as China captures trillions in economic value from next-generation technologies. And most importantly, the global internet would transform from a platform of freedom and opportunity into a tool for censorship and control.

The choices our elected officials make today will determine whether the digital world of tomorrow reflects America’s commitment to openness, accessibility, expression, and freedom — or whether it embodies the values of the CCP: closed, censoring, and controlling.

Just as the Space Race galvanized a generation of innovators and secured America’s geopolitical leadership, we must embrace leadership in AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing as our modern-day moonshot effort.

This is our race to win, but doing so will require bold action and a whole-of-nation commitment.

First, we must seize the historic opportunity to secure lasting American AI leadership. This means bold investments in energy infrastructure, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and advanced semiconductor production. America must lead in both open-source and closed-source AI systems to ensure our allies use trusted U.S. models — not China’s.

Second, we need strategic partnerships between the government and our private sector tech innovators, who are our critical allies in maintaining America’s technological and military edge. These companies invested over $234 billion in research and development in 2023 alone — more than 1.5 times the Pentagon’s entire research and development (R&D) budget request for FY2025.

Third, we must strengthen our energy infrastructure to power AI growth and enhance national security. While China has built 30,000 miles of ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission lines and invested $442 billion in grid modernization, America has zero UHV lines and an outdated grid is stalling 12,000 domestic energy projects that are ready to go.

Fourth, we must improve supply chain resilience through nearshoring and friendshoring to reduce dependencies on Chinese manufacturing and prevent future disruptions.

Finally, we must reject policies that handcuff American innovation. Overregulation, misguided antitrust actions, excessive restrictions on AI exports, and bureaucratic roadblocks will only slow U.S. progress while giving China a free pass to dominate. Instead, we must champion innovation through smart, light-touch regulation.

President John F. Kennedy famously once said we choose to go to the moon “not because it is easy, but because it is hard, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

Today, we face a similarly defining challenge in the technological competition with China. It’s a challenge we must meet with the same determination and national unity we channeled in the 60s.

It matters greatly which country — and which set of values — builds the future. Let’s seize our chance to ensure the future is American-made.

Doug Kelly is CEO of the American Edge Project, which advocates for American technological leadership.