By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy says China is the top U.S. competitor in both areas and warned the future depends on who leads in key sectors.
“China has emerged as both our preeminent geopolitical rival and our most formidable technological and scientific competitor,” nominee Michael Kratsios said in written testimony seen by Reuters ahead of his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
“The shape of the future global order will be defined by whomever leads across AI, quantum, nuclear, and other critical and emerging technologies. Chinese progress in nuclear fusion, quantum technologies, and autonomous systems all press home the urgency of the work ahead,” Kratsios said.
Kratsios in the first Trump administration served as the United States chief technology officer and associate director of the agency he is nominated to lead.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump last month signed an executive order setting a 180-day deadline for an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan to create a policy “to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance in order to promote human flourishing, economic competitiveness, and national security.”
On Friday, Trump signed a memorandum that directs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to restrict Chinese investments in strategic areas, a White House official told Reuters.
The official also said the Trump administration will consider new or expanded restrictions on U.S. outbound investment to China in sensitive technologies, including semiconductors, AI, quantum, biotechnology and aerospace.
Then-President Joe Biden last month moved to further restrict AI chip and technology exports to China and other countries, capping the number of AI chips that can be exported to most countries — one of a series of moves aimed at containing China’s technological advancement.
The Biden administration also in January finalized rules to effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market, as part of a crackdown on vehicle software and hardware from China.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Berkrot)
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