A Manhattan Project for artificial intelligence: The plan to get ahead of China

Faced with the constant threat posed by China to national security, especially considering its arsenal, politicians are taking action to counteract this danger, taking advantage of all available resources. Among them is technology, which, with its progress, should be able to overcome the weapons capabilities of the communist regime.

As a result, a group of lawmakers belonging to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission submitted to Congress a report in which they explain that artificial intelligence (A.I.) is necessary to rise to the challenge presented by China. In fact, they urge their colleagues and the administration to greenlight a plan similar to the Manhattan Project.

"The Commission recommends that Congress establish and fund a program similar to the Manhattan Project dedicated to competing for and acquiring an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) capability. AGI is generally defined as systems that are as good as or better than human capabilities in all cognitive domains and would use the sharpest human minds on every task," the report reads.

Top-priority national project

To that end, the panel calls for a close public-private partnership: "Provide broad multi-year contracting authority to the executive branch and associated funding for leading artificial intelligence, cloud, data center and other companies to advance stated policy at a pace and scale consistent with the goal of U.S. leadership in AGI."

The lawmakers based this request on Xi Jinping's government's method of developing its arms and technology industry, which always features collaboration between the regime and private companies.

In addition, the lawmakers believe it is necessary to "direct the secretary of defense to provide a 'DX Classification' of the Defense Priorities and Allocations System to elements of the artificial intelligence ecosystem to ensure that this project receives national priority."

AI doesn't kill, but it can 'hurt us'

Facilities that were basic to the development of the atomic bomb are now used as a place to study A.I., one being Oak Ridge National Laboratory, located in eastern Tennessee.

Last year, several of its rooms were transformed into a center aimed at learning more about the scope of A.I. Its director, Edmon Begnoli, told The Washington Times that A.I. doesn't kill, but it can "hurt us."

"It's not like a great mind is trying to kill humans. It's just a thing that's so good at doing what it does, it can hurt us because it's misaligned."Edmon Begnoli, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Kissinger warned of AI's potential

A few months before he died, Henry Kissinger warned of the dangers of rapid technological advancement. The former secretary of state said that the arms race among the world's major powers had evolved from wanting to have the most destructive physical weapons to trying to have the most developed technology, such as A.I.

Therefore, Kissinger pointed out that, if this progress continues, A.I. could surpass human beings themselves, becoming a weapon that could have a destructive capacity greater than that of any tangible weapon.

China has already used AI to interfere in the US

So far, A.I. has not been used to physically attack a country, but it has been used to try to manipulate it. One example is China, which dared to use it to interfere in the U.S. election, as reported by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center. The accusation is especially notable given the strong relationship between Bill Gates and Xi Jinping.