The nations, industries, and leaders who embrace artificial intelligence will dominate the world stage for the next 100+ years. For the United States, the potential for progress is massive; the cost of falling behind would be devastating. 

Although AI can be abused, focusing on hypothetical, existential threats is not the answer. Slowing down AI’s development is naive and unrealistic. Rather than leveling the playing field, enacting regional regulation will merely entrench advantages for bad actors and ensure that the technology remains exclusively in the hands of industry incumbents, putting democracy and innovation at grave risk. 

We must act now. 

The U.S. and its allies need to establish an infrastructure and incentives that accelerate the creation, deployment, and adoption of responsible AI.  

AI has the potential to protect national security, cure and prevent disease, expand economic opportunity, and address global problems like climate change, food insecurity, and access to education. Falling behind in the development of this technology leaves the U.S. vulnerable to cyberattacks, foreign control over our democratic institutions and industry, environmental catastrophe, and the expansion of societal inequity. 

In light of the above opportunities and risks, we advocate for a national strategy that (a) recognizes the inevitability of an AI-first world, (b) is designed to support a robust innovation ecosystem, and (c) accelerates the development and deployment of AI in a manner that protects the sovereignty of nations, supports individual liberty and basic human rights, and is designed to elevate global standards of living and quality of life. 

As private and public leaders and as interested citizens, we urgently call on entrepreneurs, educators, and industry experts to engage in a proactive conversation about AI’s role in advancing humanity. We ask our President and Congress to reimagine national labor, economic, and public safety laws in a manner that promotes AI’s use for the greater good. 

Some specific initiatives we suggest:

• A national commitment to be the global leader in the development, deployment and adoption of responsible forms of AI;

• An investment in upskilling our current labor force and teaching our children the skills needed for the jobs AI is creating;

• A defense strategy that includes building the infrastructure needed to defend against cyberattacks and AI-enabled weaponry and war;

• A framework for global public-private partnerships that support AI’s rapid growth in accordance with free-world values;

• National and local support for startups and existing companies building AI that has the potential to create jobs and economic opportunity and/or solve meaningful societal and human challenges; and 

• Policies that balance a respect for individual rights with the critical role that the aggregation of training data sets plays in developing more advanced forms of AI.

Embracing progress is steeped in our nation’s history. It was our actions promoting industry in the 19th century, our commitment to space exploration that put a man on the moon, and the public-private-international collaboration that ended the pandemic with life-saving, widely distributed vaccines that created and sustained our status as a global superpower.

We must take similarly bold action to embrace AI, not because it will be easy or risk-free, but because it is now a national imperative. AI is inevitable and the winner of this race will dominate how the world operates. It’s time to move beyond fear and embrace the opportunity to build a better future for humanity.