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Lucy Quaggin

China could win the AI race if delays in establishing the United States’ artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure are not addressed, a congressional hearing heard on Thursday, just days before the deadline for the release of new industry guard rails.
“We are in a strategic competition with China to lead the world on AI, and winning that race requires massive capital investment to build the networks that will power tomorrow’s AI applications,” said US Senator Ted Cruz, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
The hearing concentrated on the impact of AI on American infrastructure and the need for strong, high-speed networks to support US advancement in a race against China.
Data and computing centres, which have emerged as key elements to the growth of AI in both countries, were a key focus of the discussion.
The rapid expansion of US data centres has been opposed by communities concerned about their water and electricity consumption, environmental impact and, in some cases, a lack of public consultation.


“Today’s data centre buildout has no coherent governance strategy at all and it’s provoking real backlash around the country,” hearing witness Asad Ramzanali, director of AI and technology policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, told the committee.
“Dozens of shelved projects, hundreds of protests, and hundreds of thousands of signatures just this year.”
Meanwhile, China has pursued a nationwide expansion of computing infrastructure, with smaller cities competing alongside major technology hubs for investment. The rapid buildout has also raised concerns about redundant projects and underused capacity.
“Fibre networks are how data moves in and out of AI data centres. And for Americans to benefit from AI, every American must have access to that system,” Ramzanali told lawmakers.
USTelecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said he was seeing delays for both new projects and upgrades because of bureaucratic red tape, with simple projects – such as replacing a strand of fibre – sometimes delayed for months.
Spalter, who represents US broadband providers, proposed solutions that included categorical exemptions for broadband work and automatic approvals for previously vetted locations if an agency did not act within a specified time frame.
“These are simple, practical, progressive solutions that actually can allow us to move forward as a nation and not allow the Chinese to get out in front,” he said.
The hearing came as Washington grappled with a separate question in the AI competition with China: how to impose safeguards on powerful American models without slowing domestic innovation.
The White House is expected to release a voluntary framework by August 1 in which companies could grant the government access to designated “covered frontier models” for up to 30 days of testing before providing them to selected external partners.
“We’re looking at AI. We’re looking at controls. We’re also making sure that we lead. So we’re leading China in AI by a lot,” US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday.
He claimed China had “virtually no controls”, calling their approach “freewheeling”.
“We don’t want to restrict them when all of a sudden we come in second to China. Whoever wins with AI is going to win. That’s how big it is.”


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Senators told of need for rapid expansion of data centres and fibre networks as Washington fears losing ground to Beijing


Senators told of need for rapid expansion of data centres and fibre networks as Washington fears losing ground to Beijing.


Will US red tape and other infrastructure delays give China the lead in AI race?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Senators told of need for rapid expansion of data centres and fibre networks as Washington fears losing ground to Beijing

Senators told of need for rapid expansion of data centres and fibre networks as Washington fears losing ground to Beijing