Google's former chief executive, Eric Schmidt, called on the U.S. government to accelerate its development of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence to catch up with China.
Schmidt said that the U.S. may be leading in some forms of emerging technologies, but it is dragging behind in other vital ones.
Schmidt made his statement Wednesday at a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss emerging technologies and their impact on the country's national security.
"The threat is very, very real," Schmidt, the chairman of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence under the National Defense Authorization Act, said during the hearing.
Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said after Schmidt's speech that he will be directing lawmakers to create a set of new measures to strengthen the country's tech sector and to counter China's "unfair practices."
Schumer said that he will expand legislation proposed last year that had sought funding of about $100 billion to support research and development of emerging technologies such as quantum computing, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.
The plan to strengthen the country's tech sector is a response to China's recent implementation of supporting policies for its own high-tech sector. This includes the implementation of China's "Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan," which is aiming for the country to become a global AI superpower by 2030.
Analysts said that China's rapid A-I development can be attributed to its much weaker data privacy laws and its larger population. The nation's rapidly growing A-I development is expected to propel its military capabilities far beyond other countries.
"The [U.S.] government will need to help with some forms of funding, and we need to let the private sector build those things and make it successful," Schmidt said.
Schmidt said that the country's private sector will be its greatest asset and that government needs to provide further support to prevent people from turning to Chinese-made technologies.
Apart from A-I, the U.S.' national defense strategy identified 14 key technologies that need to be supported. This includes biotechnology, hypersonic, 5G, and quantum computing.
