Antitrust bill would harm U.S.

OPINION:

Your article on the Big Tech antitrust legislation pending before Congress fails to note the potential harm these bills would do to U.S. national security, particularly with respect to China (“Big Tech antitrust bill slowly gains steam in Congress, still likely short of needed votes,” Web, July 29).

Beijing has declared its intent to dominate the world in Big Tech by 2049. To that end, it has designated and is supporting national champions in areas including artificial intelligence, 5G networking, quantum computing, microelectronics and cybersecurity. If China wins the competition in Big Tech, it will gain decisive advantages over the U.S. economically, militarily and politically.

To counter China’s tech aggression, the U.S. is dependent on a handful of private companies which have the skills and resources to compete with Chinese firms to develop precisely those technologies Beijing seeks to dominate. These are also the firms targeted by the antitrust bills your article references. The proposed legislation would not only harm these critical national assets and impede their ability to compete with Chinese firms, it would upset the entire tech innovation ecosystem as well.

Before Congress takes the misguided step of imposing undue restrictions on our major Big Tech firms, it needs to seriously address the potential negative effects such legislation would have on U.S. national security.

DANIEL GOURE

Senior Vice President, Lexington Institute

Arlington, Virginia