Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
A commission that advises Congress on U.S.-China relations wants lawmakers to establish a Manhattan-like project to be the first to achieve artificial general intelligence.
Why it matters: There's a broad bipartisan appetite to outcompete China at a time when the Trump administration and Congress don't intend to pursue much regulation on the AI industry, instead going for a light-touch approach.
Driving the news: The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's annual report serves as a roadmap for Congress as it shapes policy.
- Axios spoke with USCC vice chair Randall Schriver and commissioner Michael Kuiken on the report's state of play.
Below is an excerpt from the conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What does this AGI project entail?
Kuiken: AGI seems to be the direction that everyone is headed, and the place where I make the argument that it's critical for the United States to be the first mover.
- Now, how do you actually do this? It has to be contract vehicles with AI companies. We sort of left that to the executive branch, but that's how you would think about it.
- The space race, the Apollo program, and the Manhattan Project were all contracts with industry to accomplish the objective of putting a man on the moon or developing the atomic bomb.
Some have said AGI could be dangerous because humans could lose control. How did you factor in those concerns, and do you think they're real?
Kuiken: I think most people would agree, I would rather have the United States government with this capability. I'll take American democracy over the Chinese government any day of the week.
- There are definitely risks along the way. We're gonna have to confront those issues and have those conversations.
We have seen this administration and this Congress pull away from regulation. Do you think there should be more robust efforts to regulate this technology, especially if we're going to race toward AGI?
Schriver: I think the administration wants to unleash the great minds of the country and the companies that are working in this space, but I don't think they're completely allergic to regulations in a field like this as things unfold.
- So it doesn't concern me at this point. What would concern me more is if we were complacent and asleep at the switch as China surged ahead.
Did China's advancements with DeepSeek increase your sense of urgency?
Kuiken: One of the things that I said to my fellow commissioners when I put this idea on the table was, listen folks, we should assume that at any time we are going to be surprised at how advanced China is and how quickly they're moving.
- And we shouldn't rely on the intelligence community to tell us suddenly, one day, that they've learned that China is further ahead than we thought.
- We should assume that we need to act with some level of decisiveness in this space in order to get that strategic North Star project off the ground and running.
Schriver: We're also operating at a time when the new administration is reviewing the state of play. And I think the timing of this disclosure of Chinese capabilities is really quite helpful as the administration looks at tightening export controls.
What's next: Commissioners will continue circulating the report among lawmakers and administration officials, and they'll also hold a hearing on Thursday titled "Made in China 2025 — Who Is Winning?"
- Congress is largely focused on reconciliation at this point, but efforts around specific legislation will likely pick up.
