“The United States is now the world leader in AI,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday. “I think it’s also wise to say that that lead is not irreversible. The lead has to be maintained, and there are great challenges to maintaining it, and we’re going to have to stay focused on that.”
Watch the clip in the video player above.
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Rubio was responding to a question from Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), who asked whether export restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment were essential “to maintain our technological advantage” against China.
Watch live: Rubio testifies on Capitol Hill for first time since Iran war broke out
Rubio agreed, saying the U.S. wants to lead not only in technological advances but also in “the standards that govern how AI is used.”
“AI will have a very positive impact on our economy and society, and there will also be some negative effects,” Rubio said, pointing to the white-collar jobs that will be affected. “We have to start thinking not only about the impact that AI will have on these jobs, but also about the social pressures that AI will create on economies not just in the United States but around the world.”
Rubio compared the impact of AI to that of industrialization and automation.
“Workers will become more efficient and valuable, but some jobs will be lost and those jobs will need to be replaced with new jobs and new skills,” he said. “This is not just an economic issue, but a political issue that could, over time, destabilize societies around the world. So we have to start thinking about AI in these terms as well.”
Rubio will face back-to-back hearings before both House and Senate committees on Tuesday, the first since the Iran war began in late February.
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