AI raises the stakes for national security. Here’s how to get it right

Regulating precocious AI isn’t a crippled of checkers. It’s a crippled of chess.

Every determination matters. You person to deliberation respective steps ahead. And if you absorption lone connected the adjacent play — oregon worse, respond aft the information — you hazard losing the agelong game.

Today, the United States finds itself astatine a turning constituent connected AI, wherever existent argumentation choices are being made. You tin spot it successful the actions underway successful some the states and Washington.

In caller months, leaders successful some New York and California person passed landmark AI information legislation. California’s SB 53 took effect connected January 1, portion New York’s RAISE Act was signed into instrumentality by Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul successful December and volition instrumentality effect successful 2027.

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul delivers her State of the State code astatine Hart Theatre astatine The Egg successful Albany, New York, Jan. 13, 2026. (Heather Ainsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Both states are moving toward approaches that align authorities and national instrumentality — recognizing that a fragmented, state-by-state patchwork isn’t sustainable. Given their size and economical impact, these moves make a wide way guardant for national enactment portion positioning New York and California to pb the federation into the AI era.

There’s a connection for this benignant of alignment betwixt authorities and national action: harmonization. The national authorities sets 1 wide nationalist modular for the astir almighty AI systems — the issues that impact nationalist information and the state arsenic a whole. States proceed to absorption connected the issues closest to people’s regular lives: user protection, civilian rights and however AI is utilized successful schools, workplaces and nationalist services. Each level of authorities plays to its strengths.

Think of it arsenic 1 rulebook with 2 wide roles and 1 urgent mission: ensuring the United States maintains its competitory vantage successful a exertion cardinal to nationalist information and planetary economical leadership. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said bluntly that whoever leads successful AI volition pb the world. The United States can’t spend to drift — oregon to disagreement itself — astatine this captious moment.

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That’s due to the fact that AI enactment is progressively an contented of nationalist information — and nationalist information requires prevention, not punishment aft the fact.

When states enactment alone, they are often forced into a liability-only attack — holding companies accountable aft harm has already occurred. Preventing the astir superior risks requires entree to the method expertise and classified systems that lone the national authorities possesses.

That is wherefore our North Star indispensable stay clear: deploying frontier models safely and successful a mode that champion positions the United States to support its innovation lead.

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That prevention-first attack already exists successful practice. The Center for AI Standards and Innovation — created by the Biden medication and updated by the Trump medication — gives the national authorities the quality to trial and measure precocious AI systems earlier they are wide deployed. That benignant of centralized investigating is indispensable for managing risks that nary azygous authorities oregon institution tin code connected its own.

Without harmonization, AI companies would look a confusing patchwork of conflicting authorities requirements that slows innovation without improving nationalist safety. With it, companies get clarity and consistency, the nationalist gets stronger protections and states are fixed wide country to enactment wherever they adhd the astir value.

Today, the United States finds itself astatine a turning constituent connected AI, wherever existent argumentation choices are being made. You tin spot it successful the actions underway successful some the states and Washington.

At the aforesaid time, states play a captious role, and the caller moves successful New York and California amusement what that equilibrium looks similar successful practice. By moving distant from fragmented approaches and toward alignment, the 2 largest innovation economies successful the state are helping make a de facto nationalist modular that exists alongside, and not alternatively of, authorities action.

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This is what harmonization looks similar successful practice: Washington focuses connected the highest-stakes information issues, portion states code kitchen-table ones. It is simply a 3rd mode guardant — avoiding some unregulated acceleration and fragmented overreach.

Think astir however we grip car safety. We don’t hold for accidents to hap and past trust solely connected lawsuits to marque cars safer. The national authorities sets wide nationalist information standards. It requires rigorous testing. And it makes seatbelts, airbags, and braking systems mandatory — with strict rules for however good they indispensable execute — earlier cars ever deed the road. Liability inactive matters, but prevention comes first, due to the fact that the stakes are excessively precocious to get it wrong.

That equilibrium isn’t new. It’s however the United States has governed aviation, nutrient and cause safety, fiscal markets and telecommunications. In each case, the national authorities acceptable wide nationalist standards for systems that powerfulness the full country, portion states continued to play a captious relation person to home. The effect wasn’t little innovation oregon little growth. It was regulatory clarity, economical growth, and American leadership.

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I saw this dynamic firsthand successful 1996, erstwhile I was moving successful the White House conscionable arsenic the net was opening to reshape the economy.

Washington faced a prime that feels acquainted today: use aged rules to a caller technology, oregon hold connected a caller nationalist model built for what was coming next. Democrats and Republicans chose the latter.

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The effect was the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It wasn’t perfect, but it got the large things right. It created wide nationalist standards, gave innovators country to physique and helped presumption the United States to pb the net epoch that followed.

Think of it arsenic 1 rulebook with 2 wide roles and 1 urgent mission: ensuring the United States maintains its competitory vantage successful a exertion cardinal to nationalist information and planetary economical leadership.

The acquisition is straightforward. When America sets smart, nationalist standards for emerging technologies, we don’t autumn down — we lead.

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The chessboard is set. If the United States focuses connected prevention, harmonizes authorities and national efforts, and keeps its eyes connected that North Star, we tin erstwhile again pb a defining technological era.

That’s however you triumph the agelong game: by playing chess, not checkers.