Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., tells'America Reports' that China is the primary geopolitical threat to the U.S. and should be addressed more by presidential candidates. The tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are creeping into an increasing number of U.S. industries in China's coordinated campaign to infiltrate critical industries to the U.S. economy. The CCP views theft of U.S. intellectual property as "a strategic resource," and China remains the largest source of counterfeit and pirated goods in the world. Chinese companies are building electric vehicle (EV) battery plants near key U.S. military installations, and China still controls the global chips market despite investments in U.S. production. China is also flexing its dominance of the rare earth sector in retaliation for U.S. trade policy, and China is in talks to create a new military facility just miles from the American homeland.

Artificial intelligence, AI, has grabbed headlines, hype, and even consternation at the beast we are unleashing. Every powerful technology can be used for good and bad, be it nuclear or biotechnology, and the same is true for AI. While much of the public discourse from the likes of Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking reflects on sci-fi like dystopian visions of overlord AI's gone wrong (a scenario certainly worth discussing), there is a much more immediate threat when it comes to AI. Long before AI goes uncontrollable or takes over jobs, there lurks a much larger danger: AI in the hands of governments and/or bad actors used to push self-interested agendas against the greater good. For background, as a technology optimist and unapologetic supporter of further development, in 2014 I wrote about the massive dislocation in society AI may cause, and while our economic metrics like GDP, growth, and productivity may look awesome as a result, it may worsen the less visible, but in my opinion, far more critical metrics around income disparity and social mobility.