House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the U.S. can lead the global AI race, but only if the government avoids heavy-handed regulation and private industry steps up as a "patriotic partner."

US AI Leadership Push

On Tuesday, Johnson made the remarks on X while sharing a clip of his speech at the Hill & Valley Forum 2026.

He wrote, "America will win the AI race – but only if government resists the siren song of control and industry steps up as our patriotic partner."

In the clip, Johnson framed the AI challenge as comparable to the space race.

"When President Trump took office, he gave us all a monumental task. He said we have to make America the world leader in artificial intelligence," Johnson said.

He added, "Just as back then, the challenge of this generation will require a reinvigoration of American science and technology."

Johnson continued, "Here in Congress, we want to ensure American AI is the gold standard of the future and we intend to do that."

US AI Leadership And Global Competition

Earlier this month, Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) CEO Alex Karp said AI had given the U.S. and its allies a strategic edge amid rising tensions in the Middle East.

He highlighted that AI-shaped battlefield power and credited the U.S.'s advantage to both military strength and technological leadership, noting Palantir's platform as a key tool for coordinating intelligence.

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) also reshaped its AI leadership, promoting Jacob Andreou to lead the Copilot division and reassigning Mustafa Suleyman to focus on advanced AI models, aiming to unify offerings and reduce reliance on OpenAI.

CEO Satya Nadella emphasized that progress in AI models was critical to the company's long-term strategy.

Last year, Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warned that the U.S. risked losing its AI edge as China rapidly advanced in applied AI and open-source technologies.

He said China focused on practical AI applications and open-source models, making them more likely to gain global adoption, while smaller, controlled Western-aligned models were emerging in response.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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