What was the misstep among Democrats that resulted in America’s tech giants attending the recent inaugural, supporting Trump?
That’s the question posed by pundits during CBS’s live coverage of the presidential inauguration events as the cameras panned past Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos. The answer is not that difficult to understand.
Unfortunately, the previous administration and many Democrats in Congress—supported by a few Republicans—focused their energy on trying to break up America’s leading tech companies and imposing onerous, European-style regulations. These policies would have undercut America’s ability to innovate and maintain its competitive edge in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
Under Lina Kahn, the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission Chair, the agency—almost inconceivably—helped the European Union implement laws that disproportionately target U.S. tech companies, further hampering innovation and global competitiveness. Thus, it’s no surprise that many tech companies have shifted toward the more supportive approach offered by the new Trump administration and the GOP.
Those actions against tech companies are out of step with what voters want. A recent American Edge Project survey shows that nearly 9 in 10 U.S. voters nationwide want their elected officials to prioritize national security and pressing economic issues over regulatory policies that stifle innovation in the U.S. tech industry and AI. By focusing on punitive measures against America’s most innovative companies, Democrats missed the mark on what matters most to voters and to the future of U.S. technological leadership.
The United States is in a race with China to determine who will be the world’s leader in AI. We can be sure that the Chinese government will not lose sight of the goal, and we must not do so, either. That’s why it is crucial that U.S. policymakers not become distracted with detrimental initiatives like breaking up big tech companies or imposing online content regulations.
China is already pursuing aggressive and coordinated policies to assert its AI dominance, pouring resources into research, development, and deployment. The Chinese government’s long-term plan for AI development, backed by state-led initiatives, is to outpace the United States. China’s centralized strategy, paired with its ability to dictate industry objectives without public scrutiny, gives it a distinct advantage over us in advancing AI technologies. China is a close peer in AI models and machine learning, and Beijing is far ahead of the West in areas such as facial recognition and surveillance technologies.
Meanwhile, in addition to the federal government’s threats to over-regulate U.S. tech firms, states like California are rushing to introduce their own AI regulations. This sort of activity risks creating a patchwork of state laws that could seriously stifle innovation. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), for example, while aiming to protect consumers, could potentially hinder U.S. companies’ ability to compete with China’s centralized, state-backed model. Indeed, without a cohesive national strategy for AI and a commitment to fostering innovation, the U.S. risks outright surrendering its competitive edge to China.
In addition, although the intentions behind content moderation proposals are to ensure safer online spaces, they also signal an overemphasis on regulating platforms that could be better spent addressing the growing AI race. Consider the ongoing debate around Meta’s updated content moderation policies, which, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced, aim to balance free speech with harmful content control on platforms. As Zuckerberg declared, the company is focused on building the “metaverse,” an AI-powered virtual environment that could play a major role in future technological landscapes. Metaverse-type investments are where the U.S. should direct its attention, and his company’s pivot away from policing content shows that Zuckerberg understands this.
Policymakers should take a hint from the scene at the inauguration. Congress should prioritize advancing AI research, bolstering collaborations between the private sector and academia, and enhancing digital diplomacy on the global stage.
Just as Zuckerberg is going all-in on the metaverse, the Trump administration has indicated that it intends to go all-in, as well, to win the AI race with China. That’s what voters want, what America needs, and what the free world is counting on us to do.