Schmidt Warns Congress: U.S. Must Win Race to Superintelligent AI

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2025 — The United States must act urgently to stay ahead in the race for superintelligent artificial intelligence, former Google CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt told lawmakers Wednesday, calling it a defining issue for national security.

Testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Schmidt said AI systems more intelligent than humans could emerge within the next decade. “It will happen in our lifetimes,” he said. “We need to get there first.”

He warned that China is becoming a serious competitor in advanced AI.

“What happens if China gets there first?” Schmidt said. “We have no concept of what a superintelligent adversary might look like.”

Schmidt said maintaining U.S. leadership will require a massive expansion of energy infrastructure.

“The typical nuclear power plant is 1 gigawatt. We have roughly 90 of them. We’re talking about [an additional] 90 gigawatts needed in the next 3-5 years in order to maintain this leadership,” Schmidt said, highlighting the massive burden AI is putting on the energy grid. He said that supporting the energy needs of AI will require using every form of energy.

Schmidt also urged rebuilding domestic semiconductor manufacturing, calling the U.S. retreat from the sector a strategic mistake.

“Twenty-five years ago, we made a mistake getting out of the semiconductor business,” he said. “It takes money to get back into it—but it’s worth it to our nation to have a supply chain of critical production materials,” he said. Without them, he said, the U.S. could fall behind in both innovation and defense capabilities.

Schmidt also warned against overregulation, warning that it would slow the U.S.  down in the race for AI dominance.

“We do not want our American companies spending all their time trying to figure out how to comply with every state’s standards, whereas the Chinese models and Chinese companies will just race ahead on innovation,” said Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, echoing Schmidt’s concerns. Wang also testified before the committee.

“This is a national security issue,” Schmidt said. “Superintelligence is coming. The question is whether we shape it—or let others do it first.”