China could literally rewrite history using AI — and control the future 

Imagine waking up to a world where entire chapters of history have quietly disappeared and key facts about important news are simply nowhere to be found. If you search online for details of major events, you’re met with error messages and misleading narratives. If you dig deeper, you run into censorship, or even total lockouts.  

To those of us fortunate enough to live in the United States, this all sounds like dystopian fiction. But for hundreds of millions of people living under the control of authoritarian regimes, this is an everyday reality. 

A new study from The American Edge Project shows how real this danger is. It reveals that China is weaponizing artificial intelligence (AI) to systematically rewrite history, erase human rights abuses and filter out any criticism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  

When asked about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, one leading Chinese AI system falsely claimed “no one was killed, and there was no massacre.” Another program labeled well-documented reports of deaths “untrue” before simply censoring itself mid-discussion.  

When it comes to human rights, the study found that searches about the repression of Uyghurs were dismissed as “baseless” or even abruptly cut short. Meanwhile, the same AI models that freely criticized former President Biden clammed up when asked about CCP leader Xi Jinping. One model actually admitted that it “can’t comply with that request.”  

These are not technical mistakes or glitches. They are the result of a deliberate effort by the CCP to inject their authoritarian values of censorship and control into the very technologies that will shape our future. The implications could not be more profound. 

AI isn’t just an economic asset or a digital tool. It’s rapidly becoming the backbone of global influence. In the 20th century, power was often decided by who commanded the largest or most advanced militaries. Today, in an interconnected world, influence rests on digital infrastructure and the technologies people use daily.  

We are locked in a high-stakes race with China to lead in AI development. The winner of this race will steer the global digital ecosystem and decide what’s amplified, what’s buried, and which set of values become the norm.  

America’s internet is rooted in freedom, transparency and openness, and our technology companies are responsive to our democratic values. China’s internet is founded on rigid censorship and state surveillance — and Beijing is increasingly eager to export that model worldwide. 

If China’s AI tools become the default, the CCP will wield unprecedented geopolitical influence, capture trillions in economic value, undermine free expression across the globe, and establish a culture molded by control, censorship and propaganda, while rewriting the past.  

We cannot allow that to happen. Yet, despite the stakes, many leaders in Europe, and even some here in the United States, are pursuing policies and regulations that will undercut U.S. innovation and kneecap America in this critical competition. 

Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding its reach. The CCP is pouring nearly 3 trillion dollars into AI development in order to cement its position as the global leader. This includes $1.4 trillion in direct AI investments and another $1.4 trillion dedicated to expanding semiconductor production, quantum computing and other strategic technologies. In addition, they are leveraging their Belt and Road Initiative and the Digital Silk Road to embed its AI technology into the digital infrastructures of more than 150 countries across the globe.  

The United States can’t afford to stand idly by. That is why we are coming together, as a former Democrat and Republican member of Congress, to sound the alarm and issue a bipartisan call to American leaders to treat AI as a modern-day moonshot. 

First, we must launch a bold national AI strategy that turbocharges support for energy infrastructure, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, semiconductor production, and workforce development. Second, we must lead in both open- and closed-source AI models to prevent Beijing’s censorship-driven approach from becoming the global default. Third, western leaders must avoid self-inflicted policy wounds that hamper our innovators while giving China a free pass. And finally, we must forge deeper global partnerships to ensure that American technology standards for AI and other emerging technology tools become the global norm, not China’s.  

This isn’t just another policy debate — it’s a defining moment that will shape global discourse and the balance of power for decades to come. The technology we allow to thrive will either spread democracy’s ideals or enforce authoritarian rule. 

The United States has met similar challenges before, whether it was the Manhattan Project, the Apollo missions, or the creation of the internet itself. Now we must harness that innate American spirit of innovation and ingenuity to win the tech race and secure a future built on the open and democratic values we hold dear. 

Former Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) served as vice chair of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services and U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security. Former Congressman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) served as chair of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Both are advisory board members for the American Edge Project.