White House: US will lead in AI, but China is catching up

EXCLUSIVE: China’s innovation successful artificial intelligence is "accelerating," according to Michael Kratsios, manager of the White House Office of Science and Technology. He told Fox News Digital that the United States’ "promote and protect" strategy volition solidify its lasting arsenic the world’s ascendant powerfulness successful AI.

Kratsios, who served arsenic chief exertion officer during the archetypal Trump administration, sat for an exclusive interrogation with Fox News Digital connected Monday.

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"The White House successful the archetypal Trump medication redefined nationalist tech argumentation to absorption connected American enactment successful emerging technologies, and those were technologies similar artificial intelligence, quantum computing and 5G, [which] were large backmost then," Kratsios said. "The president, astatine that time, signed the enforcement bid prioritizing U.S. enactment successful AI, backmost successful 2019 erstwhile radical weren’t adjacent talking astir it."

Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Science and Technology Office.  ( Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

"He recognized that it was captious for the U.S. to pb successful AI," Kratsios said. "We got the shot rolling connected what the U.S. nationalist strategy is and however we would win." 

During his archetypal administration, Trump signed the first-ever enforcement bid connected AI successful 2019. He besides took enforcement enactment successful 2020 to found the first-ever guidance for national bureau adoption of AI to present services to the American radical and "foster nationalist trust" successful the technology. 

But Kratsios said that erstwhile erstwhile President Joe Biden took office, the cognition of his medication toward AI shifted to "one of fearfulness and 1 of over-regulation." 

"There was a fixation connected what I would telephone harms, so, spending clip and vigor reasoning astir each the things that could spell incorrect with this technology, versus having a balanced approach, wherever you effort to minimize things that could spell poorly, and much importantly, look astatine ways this exertion tin alteration America for the better," Kratsios explained, noting that Biden officials were "harms focused," which helium said was "manifested successful a batch of the policies that they did, successful the mode that they were precise reticent to applying immoderate of this exertion to a batch of the issues that authorities faced, similar however you marque agencies much efficient." 

Kratsios reflected connected Trump’s AI connection during the campaign, saying helium "made it precise wide that we arsenic a state request to triumph and beryllium ascendant successful artificial intelligence." 

The United States’ "promote and protect" strategy volition solidify its lasting arsenic the world’s ascendant powerfulness successful AI. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"And helium acted precise decisively," Kratsios said, pointing to Trump’s determination connected his 3rd time successful bureau to nonstop him and different officials to make an AI enactment plan. 

"It was a mode to reappraisal everything that had been done nether the Biden medication and crook the leafage with an docket that's focused connected sustaining and ensuring continued U.S. enactment successful this peculiar technology, and that's what we've been moving on," Kratsios said. 

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Kratsios explained that the U.S. is "the leader" successful AI, specifically erstwhile it comes to the "three layers of technology," which helium said are chips oregon high-end semiconductors, the exemplary itself and the exertion layer. 

"If you look astatine each 3 of those layers, the U.S. is the leader," Kratsios said. "We person the champion chips. We person the champion models. And we person the champion applications to date." 

But helium warned that the Trump medication is "seeing the velocity of innovation" from China.

"We’re seeing the velocity astatine which the PRC is catching up with america is really accelerating," helium explained. 

Kratsios referenced DeepSeek, which was released by a Chinese steadfast earlier successful 2025 and develops large connection models.

DeepSeek was released by a Chinese steadfast earlier successful 2025 and develops ample connection models.  (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)

"I deliberation what DeepSeek revealed is that the Chinese proceed to marque advancement and are trying truly hard to drawback up with america connected those 3 layers," Kratsios said. 

But the cardinal to maintaining U.S. dominance successful the abstraction is the Trump administration’s "promote and protect" strategy, Kratsios explained. 

Kratsios said the Trump medication volition "promote" by continuing to accelerate the improvement of exertion and encouraging much Americans, American companies and countries astir the satellite to usage that technology. 

"And past connected the support side, what is it that the U.S. has which could beryllium utile to the PRC to accelerate their efforts successful AI? We support that exertion from entree by the Chinese," Kratsios said, pointing to high-end semiconductors and chips that the Chinese "shouldn’t person entree to, due to the fact that that would marque it easier for them to accelerate their efforts." 

"How bash we velocity up innovation present astatine location and dilatory down our adversaries?" Kratsios said. 

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The answer, Kratsios said, is AI probe and improvement that continues to thrust innovation. He besides said the Trump administration needs to proceed to region regulations and barriers to AI innovation, and besides hole and bid Americans successful the workforce to "better leverage this technology." 

Kratsios said different measurement is ensuring that overseas allies spouse with the U.S. to "make definite that they are besides keeping the PRC astatine bay and that they proceed to usage the American AI stack." 

During his archetypal administration, Trump signed the first-ever enforcement bid connected AI. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

"So, if you're immoderate state successful the satellite that wants to usage AI, you'd privation to usage an American stack," helium explained. "So we should marque it arsenic casual arsenic imaginable successful bid for america to export our exertion to like-minded partners." 

As for China, Kratsios said the PRC "is astir apt 1 of the astir blase surveillance states successful the world, and that is underpinned by their ain artificial quality technology." 

"I deliberation the extremity of the United States should beryllium to proceed to beryllium the ascendant powerfulness successful AI. And determination are definite inputs to the improvement of AI which we tin control, and which we would not privation the PRC to person entree to," helium said. "And the astir important pieces are benignant of these precise high-end chips that they tin usage to bid models, and besides definite instrumentality that would let them to physique their ain precise high-end chips." 

He added: "And if we tin benignant of proceed to marque it challenging for them to bash that. I deliberation it'll beryllium the payment of the U.S." 

Looking ahead, Kratsios echoed the president, saying the U.S. is successful the "golden age" and that this peculiar infinitesimal successful clip is "underpinned by unbelievable subject and technology." 

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"We privation to enactment an American emblem connected Mars," Kratsios said. "We privation to alert supersonic again. We privation drones to beryllium delivering packages astir the world. We privation AI to beryllium utilized by American workers to let them to bash their jobs better, safer and faster." 

He added: "We person an accidental to each these things, similar truthful overmuch more, successful these 4 years. And this bureau is going to beryllium the location for driving that innovation crossed truthful galore technological domains."