“The United States should get the biggest democracies and the biggest technology countries to standardize on principles that we believe in for technology adoption” senator says during Hill and Valley Forum
WASHINGTON, D.C – During an appearance at the 2026 Hill and Valley Forum, an annual gathering of technology, government and industry leaders, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, emphasized the importance of a “Tech NATO” that would unite the biggest democracies around a set of AI standards. The United States and its allies and partners face intense competition from China in the race to develop the dominant AI tech stack, and a Tech NATO alliance would provide key support for that effort. Sen. Cantwell participated in a session titled “Mind and Machine: The Forces Shaping the AI Era.”
“I’ve been a big supporter of what I call Tech NATO – that the United States should get the biggest democracies and the biggest technology countries to standardize on principles that we believe in for technology adoption,” said Sen. Cantwell. “We should basically say countries [that] have back doors and do these other things, you shouldn’t buy technology from them because you don’t know what you’re going to get. The sooner the United States works to try to build those alliances around the globe, I think the better [the] strategy to counter China and counter their policies.”
“What’s the alternative?” she added. “To let China do a Belt and Road AI program and then us try to play catch up to that? We already did that with Huawei, so we know we don’t want to do it with AI.”
A video clip of these remarks is available HERE.
Sen. Cantwell is a leader in Senate legislation to bolster America’s AI competitiveness and has long recognized that for the U.S. to lead the world in AI innovation and emerging technologies, it must invest in AI research and development, education and workforce skilling, and support small businesses. On February 26, 2026, she reintroduced the bipartisan Future of AI Innovation Act that lays the foundation to maintain U.S. AI leadership. Earlier in March, Sen. Cantwell and Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) introduced the bipartisan NSF AI Education Act to expand scholarship and professional development opportunities to study AI with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), and in February, introduced the Small Business Artificial Intelligence Training Act of 2026 to create and distribute AI training resources and tools to help small businesses leverage AI in their operations. Sen. Cantwell was a lead architect and spearheaded the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, which directed the DOE and NSF to invest in ten key technology focus areas, including artificial intelligence.
“Having a skilled and trained workforce that really understands the tools of AI is going to help us win and be successful in competitive areas [where] the United States really needs to step on the gas,” said Sen. Cantwell. “The most immediate opportunity, which is one that government is good at, is what are those things that we need to prepare for, just like we did with CHIPS and Science, and what can we do to accelerate that next generation of jobs through AI investment?”
A video clip of these remarks is available HERE.
Finally, Sen. Cantwell discussed the crucial role that renewable energy will play in the growth of artificial intelligence
“The challenge for AI is we really do need this next generation of energy supply…The President needs to get his foot off the renewables,” said Sen. Cantwell. “In the [Bipartisan] Infrastructure [Law] and Inflation Reduction Act, we made these investments in next-generation technology, and we can’t let China beat us because they’re using all sources of energy and we’re not.”
Video of these remarks is available HERE.