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27 August 2024

Winning the Tech Race: Why American CEOs Must Lead, Not Follow

Michelle Giuda

The summer of 2024 is making a run for one of the most tumultuous in American political and stock market history. One presidential candidate dramatically stepped down, another barely dodged an assassin’s bullet, and the most important election on the world stage was reshaped in a matter of weeks. Lagging economic indicators and the warning of an American slowdown triggered a global stock sell-off. As this season of volatility heats up, one thing remains constant: the imperative for American and allied CEOs to lead the world with trusted technology.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping, has made leading the world in new technologies a core pillar of its strategy to remake this international system in its authoritarian image. China is a determined and capable adversary who is partnering with regimes in Russia, Iran, North Korea, and elsewhere to achieve its freedom-suppressing ambitions. This is our long-term reality, and we—the United States and our allies—have no choice but to win.

U.S. and allied governments can offer blueprints, principles, processes, and regulations for leading in AI, semiconductors, and other critical technologies. Still, our victory in the technology race will not be won in Washington, Brussels, or the United Nations. The real strategic impetus will come from our enterprising business leaders from Silicon Valley to Indianapolis to New York to Austin, with help from allies in places like Tallinn, Montevideo, Tel Aviv, and Taipei. We won’t regulate our way to victory over autocracy; we will have to innovate our way there. However, in order for this to be true, it will require CEOs and business leaders around the free world to embrace new thinking for a new world.

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