High-profile technology and media executives shared their experiences of working in and competing in China with lawmakers who visited California this week.
A delegation of roughly 10 members of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party traveled west to satisfy with industry leaders and material experts on key areas of concern when coping with China.
During the three-day trip, which began on Wednesday, a gathering with lawmakers was scheduled Disney CEO Bob Iger i Apple CEO Tim Cook, in addition to senior executives from Google, Microsoft, Palantir and Scale AI. The program also included meetings with a gaggle of producers, writers and former studio directors who’ve experience working with China, in addition to enterprise capitalists and experts from Stanford University, in accordance with a source near the committee.
The tour highlights the critical role the tech and media industries play in America’s increasingly complex relationship with China. While these industries often depend on the vast audience and workforce available in China, dependence on the country raises human rights and free speech concerns on account of government censorship controls in addition to supply chain risks.
The trip takes place right after a historic meeting in California between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of R-Calif. and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday. The meeting, which was also praised by former chairwoman Nancy Pelosi of D-California, infuriated the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese government called the meeting a “provocation” and promised “decisive motion.”
In Hollywood, a gaggle of lawmakers from a select committee reviewed a spread of topics related to competition with China. According to a source accustomed to the committee’s activities, during a gathering with Disney’s Iger and later during a dinner with anonymous studio executives, the censorship of creative content was very vital. Executives discussed coping with self-censorship to make sure the film wouldn’t offend the Chinese government even before filming began, in addition to the editing requests they receive from the federal government to screen movies within the country.
In Silicon Valley on Thursday, in accordance with a source, Microsoft CEO Brad Smith gave a presentation on AI, warning that there’s a slight gap between the US and China in the event of generative AI, which has been popularized because of tools like ChatGPT. He also discussed the extraction and processing of rare earth minerals that make up the important thing components of some technical devices. Smith and executives from Google, Palantir and ScaleAI attended lunch with committee members.
Lawmakers also met with experts from Stanford University, including the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, in accordance with the middle’s founding member Steve Blank. In a phone call after Thursday’s discussion, Blank said he communicated the necessity for a defense strategy that features more public-private partnerships across industries to speed up U.S. cooperation with China. Blank said he was impressed by the bipartisan nature and interest from current lawmakers.
“In general, based on the questions they asked, you would be very proud to be an American sitting on this room,” said Blank. “They were cross-party, they got to the purpose and so they were very smart. These people understand the issues and take a look at to assist the country be higher.”
Representative Ro Khanna of California, a committee member representing Silicon Valley, told CNBC in a phone call before leaving on Tuesday that he was excited for his colleagues to go to his home district. Khanna said it is usually invaluable for legislators to spend time learning about cutting-edge technologies comparable to artificial intelligence, quantum computing and climate technologies to higher understand find out how to regulate and support them.
“I believe it will be clever for each member of Congress to spend per week in Silicon Valley,” said Khanna. “Technology will define so many areas from the economy to national security to problems with citizenship, and we want people to immerse themselves in it, or not less than understand it.”
Khanna and others described the destination as primarily an exploratory mission. While the talks are more likely to inform future policymaking and hearings, lawmakers attended the meetings to learn from industry leaders on the bottom.
The group was also scheduled to satisfy enterprise capitalists on Thursday, including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures and SV Angel. Khanna expected VCs to debate how the federal government could “higher work with the private sector” to remain ahead of China in key areas of emerging technology.
According to a source accustomed to the committee’s plans, lawmakers were scheduled to debate cryptocurrency with Stanford experts on Friday before traveling to Cupertino to satisfy Cook at Apple headquarters.
Khanna said he expects business leaders to tell policy makers of any progress they’ve made in diversifying their supply chains outside of China and the way they’re using export revenues from China to take a position within the US. Regarding the meeting with Apple’s CEO, Khanna said he expects Cook to “be honest in regards to the supply chain issues,” including the complexity and progress of diversifying production outside of China.
In a telephone conversation during Thursday’s trip, representative Haley Stevens of D-Mich. parent state.
“In my mind, every meeting we have been to has been about Michigan’s economy and our productive capability as a rustic,” Stevens said. “One of the topics that I dropped at the committee as a master of producing and as someone who understands the interconnectedness between manufacturing and technology is: what else do we want to do to encourage and advance industrial policy within the United States of America?” Stevens said. She pointed to the passing of the Chips and Science Act for instance of encouraging domestic semiconductor production.
“Now we’re other areas specific to provide chain vulnerabilities and vulnerabilities that may impact our economy, and we would like to be competitive in quantum and artificial intelligence along with integrated circuits,” Stevens said.
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