Chinese analysts are not alone in thinking this way about technological innovation and power. U.S. policymakers also see a vital link. In his first press conference after taking office, President Joe Biden underscored the need to “own the future” as it relates to competition in emerging technologies, pledging that China’s goal to become “the most powerful country in the world” was “not going to happen on my watch.” In 2018, Congress set up the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a body that convened government officials, technology experts, and social scientists to study the implications of AI. Comparing AI’s possible impact to earlier innovations such as electricity, the commission’s final report warned that the [United States](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/regions/united-states) would soon lose its technological leadership to China if it did not adequately prepare for the “AI revolution.”
1 comment
[SS from essay by Jeffrey Ding, Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University and the author of [*Technology and the Rise of Great Powers: How Diffusion Shapes Economic Competition*](https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691260341/technology-and-the-rise-of-great-powers) (Princeton University Press), from which this essay is adapted.]
Chinese analysts are not alone in thinking this way about technological innovation and power. U.S. policymakers also see a vital link. In his first press conference after taking office, President Joe Biden underscored the need to “own the future” as it relates to competition in emerging technologies, pledging that China’s goal to become “the most powerful country in the world” was “not going to happen on my watch.” In 2018, Congress set up the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a body that convened government officials, technology experts, and social scientists to study the implications of AI. Comparing AI’s possible impact to earlier innovations such as electricity, the commission’s final report warned that the [United States](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/regions/united-states) would soon lose its technological leadership to China if it did not adequately prepare for the “AI revolution.”