WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, delivered opening remarks on the need to ensure American leadership in artificial intelligence during a hearing yesterday.
During the hearing, titled “Countering China’s Challenge to American AI Leadership,” Senator Coons emphasized that AI is a key technology of the 21st century and crucial to America’s national security and growing economy. He warned that China is investing heavily to outpace America and has seized the advantage when it comes to talent and energy supply, but noted the U.S. still leads in advanced AI chips – a major advantage that we must not squander.
Senator Coons called for continued restrictions on the sale of advanced American AI chips to China, and additional collaboration with our allies. He highlighted the forthcoming bipartisan SAFE Chips Act, as a key piece of legislation to safeguard America’s lead in computing power.
A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ remarks are available below.
Senator Coons: Thank you, Chairman Ricketts, and thank you for working so closely together on this critical hearing. I am greatly enjoying our service together on this subcommittee. I’d like to thank our panel of four senior, seasoned, and experienced witnesses to help us discuss today how the United States can win the race to ensure global leadership – even global dominance – in AI.
AI, as you’ve said, chairman, is the defining technology of the 21st Century, out of which so many other significant advances will come. As with the printing press or the steam engine or the electricity developments of previous centuries, AI is the transformation technology that will change our world.
It’s poised to unlock countless opportunities in nearly every sector of the global economy, from health care to education, from manufacturing to energy. It also brings risks. It will be dramatically transformational to military and arms, to intelligence, to cybersecurity, and so much else. Our dominance in AI isn’t just essential for our economic and industrial success but is critical to our national security. So, we need to work together to ensure that as the world builds out its AI infrastructure, it’s built on an American tech stack – our chips, our cloud infrastructure and our models – and, as a consequence, on a foundation of American values that help ensure free economies and free societies.
We’re not alone in this race, as the chairman just said. China has been working overtime to catch up with us for more than a decade, using state-backed policies to invest massively in accelerating AI adoption. They have poured money into research, development, and deployment. Xi set a goal of being able to be the world’s leading AI power by 2030.
I’m thankful, as we’ll hear from this panel of talented witnesses, this effort hasn’t been wholly successful. The PRC does have a commanding advantage in energy production and talent but is struggling to produce advanced AI chips. Secretary Lutnick testified this spring that China can currently only produce 200,000 advanced AI chips per year, while we know American and allied companies produce more than 10 million.
This is our sole competitive critical advantage in AI, and we cannot squander it. So today I look forward to discussing how we should define the U.S. approach to this watershed technology. Here’s a few foundational principles I’d like to suggest that I believe my Republican colleagues will agree with:
Maintaining AI primacy has to be a central national imperative, central to our economic security and geostrategic goals. The world’s most powerful supercomputers and next-generation AI must be built by U.S. companies in the United States on a foundation of our democratic principles, which requires us to continue to invest in chips, in energy infrastructure, and in ensuring we are attracting and retaining the world’s top talent.
We have to export the full AI stack to our allies and partners so that American AI becomes the foundation for the world in this century. And, at the same time, we have to deny our adversaries the ability to build their own stacks. So, I’m pleased to join with you, chairman, in introducing the SAFE Chips Act.
We also need to recognize that China’s inability to access computing power is its chief, if not sole, AI vulnerability. And we stand a much better chance of winning every part of the AI competition if we deny them access.
So, I look forward to hearing from our distinguished panel about how we can translate some of these principles into concrete U.S. government actions and to hear your advice on what more we can and should do together.