OpenAI Emphasizes China Competition in Pitch to a New Washington

by Shirin Ghaffary of Bloomberg News, 1/13/25

OpenAI’s top executives are planning to host events in Washington DC and two key swing states to bolster support for investment in artificial intelligence as the company adapts to the biggest change in the US political landscape since ChatGPT launched.

Later this month, Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and others at OpenAI will host a gathering for policymakers in Washington to discuss a new “economic blueprint” for AI, the company said. The sweeping policy proposals, released Monday, call for the public and private sectors to work together in areas such as energy and infrastructure to keep the US ahead of China — a pitch likely to appeal to the incoming Trump administration.

The San Francisco-based startup also plans to hold events in the coming months in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Alabama to announce new AI projects in each state, OpenAI Vice President of Global Affairs Chris Lehane said in an interview with Bloomberg News. OpenAI is framing the announcements as part of a new “Innovating for America” initiative to boost economic activity around AI in various parts of the country.

Over the past year, OpenAI and Altman have pitched the Biden administration to help pave the way for building more data centers and energy resources needed to develop AI. Now the ChatGPT maker, like other AI companies, is adjusting to new uncertainty around the incoming Trump administration’s AI plans.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to repeal key parts of the Biden administration’s AI agenda, including a 2023 executive order on artificial intelligence. Trump’s supporter Elon Musk has also gained newfound influence in Washington, sparking concerns that the billionaire could pursue policies that favor his own companies, including startup xAI, a rival to OpenAI.

In recent months, OpenAI has expanded its policy team in Washington, including by hiring a lobbying firm run by Jeff Miller, a well-known figure in Trump’s orbit, according to a filing. Altman also announced a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural fund and plans to attend his inauguration, Bloomberg has reported.

With its new economic blueprint, which builds on the company’s previous policy proposals, OpenAI focuses on two areas of intense interest to Trump during his first term: domestic economic growth opportunities and concerns about China.

“I’ve been struck by how much the incoming administration is really focused on the importance of AI because of our national security,” Lehane said. He added that there’s a “recognition that OpenAI is really important to American success when it comes to making sure US AI does prevail” over China.

In the policy document, OpenAI calls for the development of “AI economic zones” in various parts of the country to speed up the permitting processes for building AI infrastructure such as solar arrays, wind farms and nuclear reactors, as well as funding research and education programs.

OpenAI also suggests infrastructure funding should be supported through a global “Compact for AI” among the US and allied nations. And OpenAI repeatedly urges the government to support “democratic AI” that is “shaped by the values the US has always stood for,” or risk losing ground to Chinese AI efforts.

“There is an element of a Sputnik moment,” Lehane said, citing the rapid advancement of China’s AI technologies, including the recent release of a competitive chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek. “We've been talking about the importance of democratic AI prevailing over PRC autocratic AI. Maybe sometimes people thought that was an abstract conversation. I think it's a very real conversation.”

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OpenAI Emphasizes China Competition in Pitch to a New Washington

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