US Risks Losing AI Leadership to China

Details teh deficits threatening AmericaS AI future and offers a roadmap to secure U.S. leadership

WASHINGTON, DC – The American Edge Project (AEP), a coalition of two dozen domestic organizations, today released a new report warning that, despite an early lead in artificial intelligence (AI), the United States isn’t positioned for long-term AI leadership, and risks falling behind China in the technology that will define global power for decades.

The report, “The $7 Trillion Battle for Global AI Supremacy: A Visual Guide to the U.S.-China AI Race,” shows how a decade of underinvestment in America’s power generation and transmission grid, combined with talent shortages and slow AI adoption, have created structural vulnerabilities that China is capitalizing on. It warns that unless lawmakers act decisively to close these gaps, China could seize long-term AI leadership.

“Losing our AI edge would threaten America’s security, prosperity, and the values of freedom and openness that anchor the world’s digital infrastructure,” said Doug Kelly, CEO of the American Edge Project. “But it’s a solvable challenge – if we invest, build, and move with the urgency of a modern-day moonshot.”

The issue brief in its entirety can be found here. Key findings include:

United States vs. China: Four Essential Drivers of AI Leadership

• Power & Transmission: AI leadership hinges on whether America can power it. Exploding demand is straining our aging grid, while China generates twice as much electricity as America does, and is adding massive new amounts of generation and transmission capacity. Without urgent upgrades,America’s AI future will be capped by energy limits.
• AI Adoption at Home and Abroad: The country that scales AI fastest will lead. China is leading in key areas of domestic adoption and exporting its tech abroad, while U.S. adoption lags.Without a surge on both fronts,China will have an upper hand.