Treasury Secretary Bessent Warns China AI Lead Makes US Defense Useless

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that American security systems including the Iron Dome would be irrelevant if China achieves leadership in artificial intelligence. He argued that the United States cannot afford to pause its AI development because China will not slow down, and allowing the rival power to pull away would render other national security efforts useless.

Bessent criticized hyperscalers for performing a bad job on AI communication and said the American public needs to understand what the technology does for them. He warned that the current competitive race is a fundamental priority, claiming that nothing would matter if China ultimately pulls away from the US in the field.