Today, the AI Policy Network’s President of Government Affairs, Mark Beall, testified before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in a hearing entitled, “Algorithms and Authoritarians: Why U.S. AI Must Lead.”

“If any nation develops [artificial superintelligence] in today’s environment – and particularly a hostile nation – it’s not hyperbole to say that we could be facing an existential crisis,” warned Beall in his opening statement. “These ASI systems – in the wrong hands or without guardrails – have the potential to destroy global electrical grids, develop incurable super-viruses, empty every bank account in the world, and worse.”

Beall goes on to lay out a three-pillar approach to combating AI risks: protect, promote, and prepare.

Video of Beall’s testimony, as well as the full hearing, is available here.

Beall’s full opening statement, as prepared for delivery, is available below.

Chairman Moolenaar, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi, distinguished members of the Committee: Thank you for inviting me to join this crucial conversation.

You’re all likely numb to the countless headlines, reports, and memos that read “America’s AI race with China.” I’m grateful for those headlines – because it means we’ve at least partially woken up to the existential challenge in front of us – but I’d like to start by making an important clarification.

We’re not in one AI race with China – we’re in two.

The first race is for commercial dominance, and this is one we understand. It’s a competition with China for an economic, military, and geopolitical edge through artificial intelligence – the AI aspect of this race is new, but a great-power competition is familiar.

The second race is harder to wrap our heads around – which is also why it gets less attention – because it’s unprecedented. It’s a race toward artificial superintelligence, also known as ASI.

This isn’t your typical race between two competing nations – this is humanity against time and our own creation. Nobel laureates in physics and Turing Award winners in computer science speak in unison of existential risk with ASI. The very architects of these advanced systems are purchasing remote bunkers to prepare for their release and talking about “summoning the demon.”

If any nation develops ASI in today’s environment – and particularly a hostile nation – it’s not hyperbole to say that we could be facing an existential crisis. These ASI systems – in the wrong hands or without guardrails – have the potential to destroy global electrical grids, develop incurable super-viruses, empty every bank account in the world, and worse.

So how can we develop a comprehensive AI strategy to ensure we combat these risks? I humbly recommend a three-pillar approach: Protect, promote, and prepare.

First, we need to better protect our assets. The fact that Chinese military researchers freely buy, steal, download, and then weaponize American technology represents a dereliction of duty that would have been unthinkable during the Cold War.

Second, we need to promote those assets. America must not just defend but dominate through construction and deployment; through adoption and diffusion; through deregulation and acceleration. We have to shatter the bureaucratic barriers that keep AI from our warfighters and intelligence professionals. What took years or months must take days. We have to securely deploy the American AI stack globally before friends and allies are forced to choose Beijing’s alternative.

Third, we need to prepare. Like the superpowers stepping back from nuclear annihilation during the Cuban missile crisis, we must recognize that the superintelligence race cannot be won – only survived. 

We may need a treaty that channels competition away from mutual destruction. The message to Beijing: America will out-compete you commercially and militarily. But we should be open to a narrow bilateral dialogue with China on superintelligence. If we can implement appropriate verification measures, then maybe there could be a deal.

There is a significant opportunity in front of us. America can win the commercial race, drive the AI economy forward, and infuse our founding principles of freedom and transparency into global AI adoption. That future can only be enjoyed, though, if we recognize the ASI race with China, recognize the potential for catastrophe, and lead the effort to prevent it. Thank you.