Emerging Technologies and Strategic Competition: A Conversation with Senator Todd Young

Featuring Chris Miller, Associate Professor of International History at The Fletcher School

On June 5, AEI’s Chris Miller hosted Senator Todd Young to discuss advanced technologies, national security, and strategic competition. They focused on how the US has fallen behind its adversaries and what Congress can do to improve the United States’ position.

Senator Young first outlined his national security priorities: “chips, ships, rocks, genes, and geniuses.” He highlighted the CHIPS and Science Act’s success—it unlocked funding for the semiconductor industry—but he identified the Unites States’ shortcomings in shipbuilding, acquiring critical minerals, developing biotechnology, and attracting capable talent. He called for continued investments in public and private research projects while praising recent scrutiny into these investments. Senator Young and Mr. Miller also commented on Chinese industrial policy and subsidies, noting that to win market share and make investing in the US more attractive, US industrial policy must keep up.

Senator Young also described tools to make US shipbuilding competitive: “offensive” capital investments, “defensive” export controls, and intellectual property protections. He extended this strategy to critical minerals and biotechnology, highlighting the problem of the US importing Chinese drugs and the challenges of cost-effective domestic manufacturing. He assessed the nation’s progress in strengthening supply chains and emphasized maintaining strategic partnerships with allies who supply the US with critical components and minerals. The event concluded with a Q&A.

Watch the video here.

(This post is republished from AEI.)