High-profile tech and media executives shared their experiences of working in and competing with China with lawmakers who visited California this week.
A delegation of about 10 members of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party made the journey west to fulfill with trade leaders and subject material specialists about key areas of concern with regards to coping with China.
Over the three-day journey that kicked off on Wednesday, lawmakers had been scheduled to fulfill with Disney CEO Bob Iger and Apple CEO Tim Cook, in addition to high-level executives from Google, Microsoft, Palantir and Scale AI. Also on the agenda had been occasions with a bunch of producers, screenwriters and former studio executives who’ve expertise working with China, in addition to with enterprise capitalists and Stanford University specialists, in accordance with a supply near the committee.
The journey highlights the important thing position tech and media industries play in America’s more and more advanced relationship with China. While these industries usually depend on the huge audiences and workforces accessible in China, dependence on the nation raises considerations of human rights and free speech points due to the federal government’s censorship controls, in addition to provide chain dangers.
The journey comes on the heels of a historic assembly in California between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday. That assembly, which former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., additionally praised, enraged the management of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese authorities known as the assembly a “provocation” and promised “resolute actions.”
In Hollywood, the group of lawmakers from the choose committee realized a couple of vary of matters associated to competitors with China. In a gathering with Disney’s Iger and later at a dinner with unnamed studio executives, censorship of artistic content material was an enormous focus, in accordance with the supply acquainted with the committee’s actions. Executives mentioned coping with self-censorship to strive to make sure a film will not offend the Chinese authorities even earlier than filming begins, in addition to edit requests they obtain from the federal government to be able to present movies within the nation.
In Silicon Valley on Thursday, in accordance with the supply, Microsoft President Brad Smith gave a presentation about synthetic intelligence, warning that there’s a slender hole between the U.S. and China within the growth of generative AI, which has been made in style by instruments resembling ChatGPT. He additionally mentioned uncommon earth mineral mining and processing, which make up key parts in sure tech units. Smith and executives from Google, Palantir and ScaleAI attended a luncheon with committee members.
Lawmakers additionally met with specialists from Stanford University, together with these from the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, in accordance with middle founding member Steve Blank. In a cellphone name following the dialogue Thursday, Blank mentioned he communicated the necessity for a protection technique that entails extra public-private partnerships throughout completely different industries to get the U.S. in control with China. Blank mentioned he was impressed by the bipartisanship and curiosity he noticed from lawmakers in attendance.
“In general, the questions they asked, you would have been very proud to be an American sitting in that room,” Blank mentioned. “They were bipartisan, and they were to the point and they were very smart. These people understand the issues, and they’re trying to help the country be better.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a committee member who represents Silicon Valley, advised CNBC in a cellphone interview forward of the journey on Tuesday that he was excited for his colleagues to go to his residence district. Khanna mentioned it is at all times worthwhile for lawmakers to spend time studying about cutting-edge applied sciences resembling AI, quantum computing and local weather tech to raised perceive how one can each regulate and foster it.
“I think it would be wise for every member of Congress to spend a week in Silicon Valley,” Khanna mentioned. “Technology is going to define so many fields from the economy to national security to our issues of citizenship, and we need people to be immersed in it, at least understanding it.”
Khanna and others have described the aim of the journey as primarily a fact-finding mission. While the conversations will seemingly inform future policymaking and hearings, lawmakers entered the conferences aiming to study from trade executives on the bottom.
The group was additionally slated to fulfill with enterprise capitalists on Thursday, together with Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures and SV Angel. Khanna anticipated the VCs would talk about how the federal government might “better collaborate with the private sector” to remain forward of China in key areas of rising expertise.
On Friday, lawmakers had been set to debate cryptocurrency with specialists at Stanford earlier than touring to Cupertino to fulfill with Cook at Apple’s headquarters, in accordance with the supply acquainted with the committee’s plans.
Khanna mentioned he anticipated the business leaders would inform the policymakers of any progress they’ve made in diversifying their provide chains out of China and the way they use export income from China to spend money on the U.S. When it involves the assembly with Apple’s CEO, Khanna mentioned he anticipated Cook would “speak candidly about the supply chain issues,” together with the complexities and progress of diversifying manufacturing outdoors of China.
In a cellphone interview partway by the journey on Thursday, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., mentioned she noticed frequent themes between the kinds of challenges the tech and media industries face with regards to China and people going through the automotive trade in her residence state.
“Every meeting we’ve been in, in my opinion, has related back to Michigan’s economy and our ability to manufacture as a country,” Stevens mentioned. “One of the themes that I came into the committee with as a manufacturing champion and as someone who understands the interrelatedness between manufacturing and tech is: What else do we need to do to incentivize and grow industrial policy in the United States of America?” Stevens mentioned. She pointed to the passage of the Chips and Science Act for instance of incentivizing home semiconductor manufacturing.
“Now, we’re looking at other areas specific to supply chain vulnerabilities and weaknesses that are going to impact our economy and, aside from chips, we want to be competitive in quantum and artificial intelligence,” Stevens mentioned.
— CNBC’s Steve Kovach contributed to this report.
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