The next 24 months in AI could shape the next 100 years

The next 24 months could shape the next 100 years. That’s how fast artificial intelligence is moving, according to the world’s top technologists. And right now, the U.S. and China are locked in a neck-and-neck race to develop the next frontier: AI systems that don’t just follow commands, but reason, plan, and improve themselves.

Today’s AI is about chatbots and smart assistants. But experts say that by 2027, the next level of AI, artificial general intelligence (AGI), will reason like a Ph.D.-level human across many domains. AI superintelligence — models that far exceed human capabilities and can solve problems we cannot even comprehend — may follow just months later. In fact, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg just declared that “developing superintelligence is now in sight,” with AI systems already beginning to improve themselves.

But what if China achieves AI superintelligence first?

That chilling scenario would shift the balance of global power overnight and not in our favor. Imagine a world where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has dominant control over the most powerful cognitive engines ever created. That would give Beijing the ability to:

• Penetrate America’s defense and commercial systems through automated cyberattacks that adapt in real time, using zero-day exploits to disable satellites, power grids, weapons platforms, and more.

• Dominate the global information space by flooding open networks with AI-generated propaganda, while censoring or rewriting the past with breathtaking speed and scale.

• Export surveillance and control through the digital infrastructure it builds and sells, embedding authoritarian values into the operating systems of other nations.

• Dismantle economic competitiveness by using superintelligent systems to outmaneuver American businesses in innovation, finance, logistics, and scientific discovery.

That’s the logical endgame if China wins the AI race. This isn’t new: China has been planning for this moment since at least 2017, when it launched its National AI Development Plan and laid out a roadmap to lead the world in AI by 2030. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently warned Congress that “if [China] comes to superintelligence first, it changes the dynamic of power globally, in ways that we have no way of understanding or predicting.”

While American developers focus on building powerful and responsible AI — models designed to follow instructions, avoid harm, and resist deception — China isn’t playing by the same rules. Its AI models are already required to control information and serve the interests of the state and are now being trained to govern entire populations. 

On top of that, Beijing has been pre-positioning malware in American military and civilian infrastructure through campaigns like Volt Typhoon, planting secret backdoors into everyday items connected to the internet, while also requiring its domestic tech firms to report foreign software vulnerabilities to the state, without alerting the global community.

That’s why this moment demands urgency. Because once a superintelligent AI model exists, whoever controls it will gain a decisive and possibly irreversible advantage.

Here in the U.S., we have the talent, companies, and values to lead the world in frontier AI, including superintelligence. And now, President Donald Trump’s bold AI Action Plan will help turbocharge America’s AI efforts. The plan removes regulatory roadblocks, fast-tracks critical infrastructure like data centers and energy projects, and outlines dozens of federal actions to accelerate innovation. This represents exactly the kind of coordinated national response this moment requires.

But there is much more to do. First, Congress should codify the AI Action Plan into law to ensure these critical efforts can’t be overturned by future administrations. Second, with more than 1,000 AI-related bills introduced in the states, Congress needs to pass a five- to 10-year state AI regulatory pause to ensure that American AI, which is barely three years old, can rapidly mature without dozens of conflicting rules from the states. Third, Congress must ensure that existing fair use copyright laws are maintained, so that our AI models are trained with the broadest sets of data possible to better find disease cures, support small businesses, and strengthen our national security.

Bottom line: We cannot afford to choke our progress at the very moment we must accelerate.

If we act boldly right now, America can lead the next era of AI. We can embed freedom, transparency, and trust into the foundation of global digital infrastructure. We can out-innovate authoritarian regimes and secure not just a technological edge, but a moral one as well.

But we only get one shot at this. This isn’t just a tech race: it’s a race to protect our values, our security, and our future. With superintelligence now in sight and America’s AI mobilization underway, the next 24 months will determine whether the next century belongs to freedom or authoritarianism.

Doug Kelly is chief executive officer of the American Edge Project.