To win the tech race with China, the Trump administration may need to embrace competition, rather than control, AI policy expert Matthew Mittelsteadt argued in his newsletter Digital Spirits: Strong AI exports would boost revenue, drive innovation, and give the US an economic edge, while also reducing China’s influence, as other nations will preferentially buy and use American technology. By contrast, Trump’s proposed hiked tariffs on Chinese products would raise prices for tech companies and squeeze their corporate budgets, a contraction that “could absolutely make or break the United States’ ability to invest in, make use of, and compete with artificial intelligence.”
