Cruz emphasizes importance of AI competition with China for U.S. economy

<p>Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stated that the competition between the United States and China in artificial intelligence (AI) is a critical economic issue as the midterm elections approach. He expressed concerns about what he described as a coordinated propaganda effort against data centers in the U.S., which he believes is being funded and manipulated by external interests.</p><p>Cruz, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, discussed the ongoing debates regarding data centers and AI policy in Congress and among American families. He compared the situation to past foreign influence campaigns, stating, "It's the same reason we saw Middle Eastern countries paying for anti-fracking movements. Because if they can convince America, 'Don't develop your oil and gas, just buy it from us,' well, that's great for them and terrible for us. The same is true on data centers. If they can convince Americans, 'You don't want data centers here, you want to just rely on the Chinese for AI,' that's great for China, and it's terrible for America."</p><p>While there has been no disclosed direct funding from the Chinese government into U.S. data center policies, OpenAI reported in June that it had banned ChatGPT accounts believed to be originating from China. These accounts were allegedly involved in generating social media comments that claimed data centers were increasing electricity costs for Americans.</p><p>OpenAI stated that it shut down "two clusters of ChatGPT accounts likely originating from China that [OpenAI] banned after they used our models in support of apparent covert influence operations that promoted narratives in an attempt to manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and wider tech policies."</p><p>Cruz characterized the effort to ensure the U.S. wins the AI race as "the single most important economic question facing America today." He expressed concerns that if China were to dominate AI, it would focus on control and surveillance, reflecting the values of the Chinese Communist Party. In contrast, he stated, "If America wins, I want American values to be reflected in AI. I want free speech and individualism and free enterprise and privacy to be reflected in AI, not control and power."</p><p>Cruz also described opposition to AI advancement and data centers as the prevailing stance among Democrats, suggesting that this position aligns with major industry players who seek exemptions from antitrust laws. He associated this viewpoint with leftist ideology and the philosophy of effective altruism.</p><p>Cruz remarked, "These folks from effective altruism are all hardcore leftists, and they want to use AI to push their leftist ideology. Part of what we're seeing is a money grab, where there's an old concept in economics called rent seeking, which is big companies typically go to government and say, 'Give me a benefit, entrench me.' We’re seeing the giant AI companies going to government saying, 'Hey, why don't you put us in charge of government and let's set the rules so no one could compete with us.'"</p><p>Parker Thayer, an investigative researcher at the Capital Research Center, referred to the effective altruism movement as associated with the "AI doomerism movement."</p><p>Dustin Moskovitz, co-founder of Facebook and a significant Democratic donor, along with his wife Cari Tuna, has been a leading financial supporter of organizations linked to the effective altruism movement. They founded Coefficient Giving, which has committed substantial funding to AI safety and policy advocacy, with plans to allocate over $1 billion by 2026.</p><p>Coefficient Giving's AI initiatives include a commitment of $168 million for AI safety and security in 2024, and $351 million in 2025. The organization aims to fund programs related to effective altruism and global catastrophic risks, among other areas.</p>