US is ‘superhero’, China ‘supervillain’ in global AI contest, American officials warn

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast warned that “America is the superhero” and China the “supervillain” in the contest for global artificial intelligence (AI) leadership on Thursday, just two days after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said America’s “biggest risk” on AI is China getting ahead.

The United States and China remain locked in an increasingly competitive race for worldwide AI supremacy, with many American officials concerned that China is eroding the US’ early lead.

“The AI race is not just an economic race, national security race, but I think it’s a moral race for our country,” said Jim Banks, a Republican senator from Indiana, adding that the US cannot afford to lose this race to its “biggest adversary”.

Speaking at the Hudson Institute event titled “Securing America’s AI Advantage: a Discussion on US Export Control Policy with Senator Jim Banks and Chairman Brian Mast”, the pair examined how AI was emerging as a key factor that would define Washington and Beijing’s relationship, framing it as a bipartisan issue.

“AI has the ability to create superpowers, whether it creates a supervillain or whether it creates a superhero, that depends on the actions that are taken,” Mast, a Republican representative from Florida, told the conservative Washington think tank, comparing the technology to the spider that turned Peter Parker into Spider-Man.