To prevent fragmented AI regulation and losing global tech leadership to China, Congress should codify the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan into a national framework.
Top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which features artificial intelligence (AI) as a central strategy to strengthen China’s economy and military.
Under the framework, each of China’s 31 provincial-level governments will execute the plan locally to ensure the Party’s goals are met and that China surpasses the United States as the global technology leader.
Meanwhile, the United States has no formally adopted national AI strategy, and in just the first three months of the year, state legislatures have introduced more than 1,500 AI-related bills that threaten to drown tech innovators in red tape. A nation cannot win a global tech race with 50 different playbooks.
The Danger of China’s Technology Becoming the Global Standard
When it comes to advanced technology, it matters greatly which country builds the future. China’s technology is embedded with authoritarian values of censorship, control, and surveillance, whereas US technology reflects freedom, opportunity, and transparency. If the globe’s digital infrastructure is built on China’s technology, democratic ideals will be threatened. Consider these real-life examples:
- China’s AI models are built to erase history. Researchers tested four major Chinese AI systems and found all four refused to respond to—or simply erased—images of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the 2019 Hong Kong protests. As those models gain global users, they export those blind spots.
- China uses AI to censor the internet in real time. China’s AI platforms can scan content, flag violations, delete banned material, and suppress criticism to amplify party narratives within seconds.
- The Chinese government has used its technologies to impersonate American officials and forge US legal documents. All of this effort was with one goal in mind: to suppress and intimidate Chinese dissidents.
- Beijing is exporting its surveillance model. Chinese firms have marketed facial recognition and “smart city” surveillance systems to more than 80 countries, directly strengthening authoritarian governments.
The CCP has been explicit about its ambitions for AI as a central strategy to transform its military and economy. China is committed to emerging as the technological superpower by 2049 and is investing trillions to achieve that goal. Beijing has had a comprehensive AI plan since 2017 and aims to have 90 percent AI adoption by 2030.
The Danger of a Fragmented Approach to AI
As China builds out an aggressive AI platform, misguided policies risk stalling America’s progress. State legislators across the country are proposing thousands of regulations that would slow AI development by adding legal uncertainty and raising compliance costs. This fragmented, state-by-state approach discourages investment, delays deployment, and weakens America’s ability to lead globally.
While American AI struggles to navigate a maze of 50 different state regulations, China is powering ahead with a unified vision.
A Perfect Storm of Innovation: How America Can Win the AI Race
Instead of a complex concoction of 50 different approaches to AI, America needs a single national playbook where every sector plays its strongest role. That means:
- The private sector should lead in building and deploying AI, competing against foreign adversaries while Washington clears the path.
- The federal government should codify the nation’s AI Action Plan into durable law and set light-touch national guardrails that prevent a 50-state patchwork of conflicting rules.
- State lawmakers should stop trying to regulate how AI models work and instead focus on making America more competitive: expanding energy and grid capacity, fast-tracking permitting, building skilled trades workforce pipelines, and driving AI adoption across industries and government.
The choices Congress makes following the upcoming Trump-Xi summit will determine whether freedom or authoritarianism defines the next era of the digital world. By prioritizing innovation and openness over regulation and bureaucracy, America can ensure that the digital world remains free.
About the Authors: Representatives Loretta Sanchez and Greg Walden
Loretta Sanchez represented Orange County, California, in Congress from 1997 to 2017. As the vice chair of the Armed Services and the Homeland Security Committee, she negotiated budgets, provided needed oversight on agencies and programs like DARPA. Congresswoman Sanchez is a recognized leader in economic development, international affairs, national security, counterterrorism, and nuclear proliferation/nonproliferation matters. Ms. Sanchez also founded and is the managing director of Datamatica, LLC, which uses data analysis to fortify economic development, especially in rural areas. She currently serves as an adviser to the American Edge Project.
Greg Walden represented Oregon’s Second Congressional District from 1999 to 2021. As chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, he worked to pass legislation to grow American jobs by expanding access to wireless broadband, spur new US technology and innovation, and protect the Internet from government control. In the 116th Congress, Walden served as the Republican leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee. He currently serves as an adviser to the American Edge Project.
