During my years on Congress’ intelligence and national security committees, one lesson stood out above all: America wins not just by out-muscling our enemies, but by out-thinking them.
Strength matters, but strategy decides the outcome. From confronting Soviet hardliners to terrorist groups to new cyber threats, one truth has remained constant: power today comes from the systems we rely on to operate.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in the global race for artificial intelligence.
AI Will Define Global Power
AI will shape every domain of national power, from economic competitiveness to military readiness, from intelligence gathering to global leadership.
China understands this. It is why Beijing has poured billions into AI development, strengthened control over critical supply chains, and used aggressive industrial policy to close the gap with the United States at an uncomfortable pace.
But here is the rarely acknowledged fact: China’s rise has been fueled as much by our missteps as by their ambition.
In recent years, Washington’s instinct has often been to restrict, prohibit, and wall off — to deny China access to American technology in hopes of slowing them down. Well-intentioned as these measures are, they have not always been strategically sound.
Take the Biden administration’s sweeping restrictions on AI chip exports. Rather than slowing China, these controls accelerated its domestic AI industry. Beijing banned the use of foreign AI chips in state-funded infrastructure and poured massive state support into companies like Huawei and SMIC.
What started as an effort to limit China instead ended up fueling demand for Chinese companies, enabling them to grow production, expand globally, and move quickly toward the self-sufficiency we wanted to prevent.
The Strategic Paradox
This is the strategic paradox Washington must confront. Limiting access to the most advanced, militarily sensitive chips protects our edge.
But restricting commercially critical chips that pose minimal national security risk does not freeze China in place — it pushes other countries toward Beijing and erodes our leverage globally.
That is why legislators must approach the GAIN AI Act with caution. Recently considered as an amendment to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), it aims to strengthen the domestic supply of AI chips.
In practice, it would impose broad export limits on commercially vital technologies, forcing American firms to lose global market share while giving Chinese competitors room to grow.
The president’s national security team recognized this risk, urging Congress not to fold GAIN AI into the NDAA and approving the sale of less advanced Nvidia chips to “approved customers” in China.
America’s advantage comes from being indispensable. Blunt export controls — treating every chip as a potential weapon rather than protecting the ones that truly matter — undermine that position and conflict with the broader AI strategy.
Policy Missteps Matter
Let me be clear: I understand the desire to safeguard American interests. But good intentions alone are not enough in a competition this consequential. Misapplied export controls do not slow China but accelerate its technological independence and shrink global demand for American innovation.
Thankfully, GAIN AI was removed from the NDAA. But it still exists as a standalone bill. If Congress pushes it forward, it risks becoming another example of Washington solving one problem while creating a bigger one.
Winning the AI race requires a different approach. Protect our most advanced capabilities rigorously. Invest heavily in next-generation breakthroughs. And ensure the world — including our competitors — continues to rely on American chips, American systems, and American innovation.
That is not weakness; it is strategy. And it is how America stays ahead.
Todd Tiahrt is a Former Member of Congress who served on the House Intelligence and Appropriations Defense Committees.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Military AI.
