On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced his design selection for a $175 billion "Golden Dome" missile defense shield and appointed Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein to lead the program aimed at deterring theoretical attacks from fellow nuclear powers China and Russia.
China immediately responded and labeled the ambitious project something that would "turn space into a war zone."
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told Newsmax on Wednesday that the two countries are "in the technological competition of the century."
"I hope and pray we don't ever get into an actual kinetic conflict with China. But believe you me, we're in conflict with China right now, whether it's on artificial intelligence or quantum computing. China is making record investments in technology domain after technology domain," Warner said on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren."
Warner, who is vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the Chinese investments into biotechnology "scares the Dickens out of" him.
"They are literally combining the powers of AI with bioengineering and creating super soldiers. One of the reasons why I'm so concerned about some of these [research and development] cuts to bio.
"That could be the next area of confrontation, and I just don't think we can ever afford to give up technological edge in any of these domains to China because if China could control our systems or shut down our utilities or take out our satellites, it may never get to a shooting war, but it could still get to a place where China could be pretty darn successful," he added.
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