President Trump's AI action looms important as China advances

The advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has grown from clearly edited videos of celebrities eating food, into almost indistinguishable clips of people speaking. The technology has advanced enough where the Trump Administration has made it a priority for securing long-term American interests.

The United States has been the self-appointed leader in AI technology the last few years. Vice President J.D. Vance said so recently at a summit in Paris that the country is 'the leader in AI, and out administration plans to keep it that way.' But as there always is with the U.S., there is an adversary lurking in the shadows.

Fox News contributor Chris Lehane says America is still in the lead, but old foe China has been closing that gap in recent years.

"Within the last four or five weeks, we have seen models, and AI systems coming out of China that really demonstrate they have accelerated their progress," he says.

To stay at the forefront, the White House is looking into an AI action plan, calling on American AI companies to submit ideas for staying ahead of the curve. But this goes well beyond just sticking it to a rival country and keeping superpower status.

China has made is clear they want to essentially be a leader of the world by 2030, which starts with overpowering the U.S. in everything from security to economics. So, this AI war has huge implications.

"At the federal government, we need clear guidance and a coherent strategy when it comes to national security, how we are leveraging AI to ensure the U.S. continues to lead," says Lehane. "And the other is infrastructure...we need chips, we need data, we need energy."

AI could certainly help in combatting hacking attempts by Chinese bad actors, which has been an ever-increasing problem. Many people are apprehensive about using AI for anything. But there is an age old saying: adapt or die.

This is the way the world is heading, and staying ahead of the Chinese, and at the forefront of AI advancement will be critical for the U.S. in the long term.

Now the U.S., especially with President Trump at the wheel, will be determined to win this battle, and ultimately given our resources, it is one we should win. But it is also a battle we cannot afford to lose.

"To guarantee we win, we need to think big, we need to act big, and we need to build big," says Lehane.

President Trump recently announced huge investments by multiple technology juggernauts in the U.S. aimed at AI advancement, and corralling the technology.