"If Beijing’s execution outpaces the West’s innovation, the future may not be written in code, but in policy. For America to remain competitive, it must move from breakthrough-max to deployment-max thinking. That begins with treating energy, data and AI talent as strategic national assets. The U.S. must streamline energy permitting, establish compute zones for AI training and build a secure, consistent and reliably accurate data ecosystem.

The U.S. must also accelerate AI adoption in real-world sectors like manufacturing, health care and agriculture, and not just in labs and startups. Workforce training, STEM education and AI literacy need national-scale coordination, alongside a comprehensive infrastructure strategy that matches China’s pace.

The U.S. should continue leading in foundational research and open-source AI, but couple that leadership with better government-industry coordination for scaling solutions. The regulatory approach needs to be modernized and moved away from fragmented state rules toward clear, federal standards that enable safe, rapid deployment. Finally, Washington needs to reassert leadership in global AI governance, setting norms for ethics, safety and cooperation."