Leaders from Silicon Valley were met Thursday with a new tone from Congress, where Republican lawmakers urged policymakers to prioritize tech innovation over regulations.

Over the course of more than three hours, four major technology leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, pitched their ideas to senators on how to stay ahead of China in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.

Altman warned the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee that the U.S. is ahead now, but China might not be that far behind.

“It is our belief that the American models including some models from OpenAI, Google and others are the best models in the world. It’s very hard to say how far ahead we are, but I would say not a huge amount of time,” Altman said during the hearing titled “Winning the AI Race: Strengthening U.S. Capabilities in Computing and Innovation.”

Other witnesses were Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, CEO of semiconductor maker AMD Lisa Su, and Michael Intrator, co-founder of AI cloud computing startup CoreWeave.

To keep ahead of China, Altman and the other witnesses called on Congress to prioritize AI infrastructure like data centers, training workers like electricians to help build these products and the need for open and broad access to public data.

A 'light-touch' approach

While the hearing touched upon a variety of topics from AI’s energy use to discrimination in models, the push for a light-handed approach underscored both witness testimony and questions from mostly GOP lawmakers.

“Adopting a light-touch regulatory style for AI will require Congress to work alongside the president. ... We need to advance legislation that promotes long-term........

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