American Edge Project (AEP) CEO Doug Kelly joined Fox News to discuss the need for a national artificial intelligence (AI) playbook, amidst growing concern over China’s technological ambitions.
“America and China are in a neck-and-neck race for global AI leadership,” said Kelly. “The winner will secure a decades-long advantage in national security and economic prosperity. China’s doing everything it can to win this game. The United States must do the same.”
A recent report from AEP found that Americans are concerned about China winning the AI race. Eighty percent of Americans are worried about China’s threat to American national security. Seventy-nine percent are concerned about China’s threat to the American economy.
A transcript of the interview can be found below, and you can also watch the interview here.
EVERYDAY AMERICANS ARE BENEFITING FROM AI USAGE
“AI is going to play a big role in every aspect of our society. And look, I get it. When it comes to adding technology at work, change is hard. And that’s happened with every single technology that we’ve ever had. But people need to understand that AI is the most transformational technology that’s been invented in the last 100 years, and was invented right here in America. And it has massive benefits.”
AI LEADING TO IMPROVED OUTCOMES IN HEALTHCARE & EDUCATION
“With healthcare, it’ll lead to improved diagnoses and faster cures. It’ll [also] accelerate learning for both children and adults to grasp new skills.”
SMALL BUSINESS GET BETTER OUTCOMES WITH AI
“And then finally, for small businesses. Look, we have 33 million small businesses in this country. AI gives them a whole series of powerful tools to help accelerate their marketing, to do inventory faster, to free them up to do more. And that’s important because AI, small businesses employ about half the people in this country. And far from being a job killer, AI right now seems to be a job creator because most recent studies are showing that in the industries that are most exposed to AI, wages are going up, and it’s creating jobs. So that’s a win-win.”
AMERICANS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT CHINA’S USE OF AI
“From our own polling, what we found is that Americans very clearly are concerned about China’s use of AI. The larger context of this is that America and China are in a neck-and-neck race for global AI leadership. And the winner is going to get decades of advantages in national security and economic prosperity, period. And China’s doing everything it can to win this game. And we need to do the same thing.”
U.S. NEEDS ONE AI PLAYBOOK
“The challenge that we have right now is that, rather than working from a single unified playbook, states are introducing a lot of different laws to regulate AI. In the last count, there are more than 1,100 state-based laws that have been proposed. If you’re a startup AI company, there’s no way you can navigate that thicket of red tape. It’s just not going to happen. So, what we need to do for this 2026, we need to make sure that we’re working from one playbook that allows our private sectors to innovate, that allows the federal government to set wide guard rails and knock down obstacles, and the states to invest in our capacity to help us win in energy and talent, and adoption. That’s how we win.”