Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., pushed back Saturday against what he called “AI doomsdaying,” arguing that excessive alarm in the United States risks handing China an advantage in the escalating race for artificial intelligence leadership.
Fetterman posted on X in response to a Bloomberg analysis that examined America’s shrinking edge over China in AI and noted the speed with which Chinese firms are rolling out sophisticated new models.
In his response, the Pennsylvania Democrat framed continued progress in artificial intelligence as a matter of national security rather than simply a technology debate.
“AI supremacy and energy dominance underpins our national security,” Fetterman wrote.
He also warned that hesitation or retreat on the emerging technology would strengthen U.S. rivals at a pivotal moment.
“China continues to fuel and benefit from our overreaction,” he wrote. “I reject the political pandering and hyperbole over data centers or AI doomsdaying.”
The Saturday post marked the latest instance of Fetterman urging the United States to move forcefully on AI development as global competition intensifies.
His position places the Pennsylvania Democrat broadly in alignment with Trump on the need to speed up artificial intelligence innovation and expand the country’s data center capacity.
Earlier this month, Fetterman reacted to an article reporting that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was eyeing a potential pause on AI development, arguing such a move would be welcomed by China.
“America must lead in the development of AI, otherwise we live under China’s rules,” Fetterman wrote. “That must not happen.”
Fetterman has also championed the development of data centers. In March, he pushed back against the prospect of imposing a moratorium on new AI data centers in the US, blasting the proposal as “China First.”
His comments came after President Donald Trump earlier this week encouraged governors and local officials to welcome the construction of AI data centers.
“The construction jobs are enormous. We’re building the biggest plants anywhere in the world. And I can say, if I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid are just enormous,” Trump said at the White House on Wednesday.
The president also said the AI industry needs “a little public relations help” as Americans have expressed concerns about data centers being built in their communities.
A Gallup poll from May found a majority of Americans opposed the construction of new data centers near where they live.
Those surveyed who opposed the facilities cited concerns including their electricity and water consumption and potential environmental impact.
Trump signed an executive order in July aimed at expediting the permitting process for data centers.
Regarding the regulation of AI, Trump suggested the industry “may be bigger than the internet.”
“We’re leading by a lot with AI. We want to keep it that way. We want to regulate, but we want to have regulation where they can continue to lead, not regulation that’s going to stifle a very important industry,” Trump said.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and James Cirrone contributed to this report.
