Global Courant 2023-05-09 11:00:47
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said it is essential for the United States to protect its intellectual property and reduce its reliance on China’s supply chain to end the race for quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor chip supremacy. to win.
“It’s a race just like the space race. You know, we had the Russians and we won that race. We have to win this one,” McCaul told Fox News Digital at the Milken Global Conference.
McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said whoever reaches quantum first will rule the world. In addition, China has been very clear that their 100-year goal is to enact complete “military and economic domination of the world,” a mission that McCaul claimed the US cannot allow to take place.
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US investors have pushed billions into China’s AI sector, a February report from CSET found. (Getty Images)
China is currently investing heavily in quantum computing, AI and advanced weapon systems. As such, McCaul emphasized the importance of US companies working to protect their intellectual property.
“We have to stop exporting our technology to China, which they can put into things like the hypersonic missile or the spy balloon, for example, it had American parts in it, components,” McCaul said.
Despite national security concerns, McCaul noted that the US can work with China’s expanded market as long as the country understands the critical supply chains that intertwine the two nations.
One of these critical supply chains involves semiconductors. McCaul first introduced the CHIPS for America Act in 2020, and it was signed into law in August 2022. The law provides $280 billion in new funding to support domestic semiconductor production and research domestically. McCaul said the law is part of a broader effort to take semiconductor reliance away from Taiwan and South Korea. In fact, TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, is located on the island of Taiwan.
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“You know, I put in the CHIPS Act to try and get some of that out of the country. But when we look at a growing threat from, you know, communist China, I was just there and we were surrounded by an armada of battleships and 90 fighter jets. And I got sanctions on my way out,” McCaul said. Good.”
One of the challenges for the US to break away from China in semiconductor dependency is that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) controls 80% of the global rare earth market, which is critical in the creation of semiconductors.
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As such, McCaul said the US should share intelligence and work with the UK and Australia on various technologies, including advanced weapons systems, to combat China aggressively pushing expansion into the Pacific.
He also stressed how companies should be aware of the challenges of doing business with the Chinese market.
“It’s not a level playing field,” McCaul said. “It’s a 51-49 joint venture. In the long run, they’re going to own you. And it might not be in your best interest in the long run, it might in the short run,” he said.
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In this photo released by the Taiwanese Presidential Office, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, left, and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen speak over lunch during a visit of a congressional delegation to Taiwan in Taipei, Taiwan, Saturday, April 8, 2023. ((Taiwan Presidential Office via AP))
The PRC and the United States also have very different structures regarding overlap, or lack thereof, in private business and military spending. In China, they have a military-civilian merger, where companies and government are all connected. In the US, there is government, including the Department of Defense, but much of the work is done through contracts with the private sector.
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“I’ve talked to the Commerce Department about looking at industries rather than companies, particularly because China can change the company’s name overnight,” McCaul said. “But if you ban the export of technologies to certain industries, like AI or quantum computing, then I think in terms of this competition that we’re in, you can’t give them the ability to steal or (let) us sell important data). I don’t think if we’re going to win this game again, we should stop selling this technology to them.”
But to win these technology races, McCaul said Congress needs to pay more attention to topics related to AI, quantum and social media algorithms to cultivate appropriate legislation. While Congress has not had a “very high aptitude” for cybersecurity in the past, McCaul said the understanding is improving.
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“I think hearings like having the CEO of TikTok testify bring that to the attention of members in Congress. But if you ask the average member what quantum computing is, I doubt many would know or what it can be used for,” he added. “And so there’s an educational process that needs to be done because it affects, you know, our national security.”
Nikolas Lanum is an associate editor for Fox News Digital.
