Regulatory overreach threatens the promise of America’s innovation renaissance (OPINION)

By Colson A. Thomas

The United States stands at a pivotal moment in the 21st century—a chance to lead a new technological era defined by artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and next-generation infrastructure. President Trump’s call for a "Golden Age of American Innovation" isn’t just a slogan—it’s a strategic necessity. But that vision is being undermined from within by outdated regulatory thinking better suited to the past than the future.

Despite the administration’s pro-business momentum, Biden-era antitrust activism still lingers, especially in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). These agencies continue to target leading American tech companies—Meta, Google, Microsoft—even as the world’s most formidable authoritarian regime, China, pours trillions into its own high-tech ambitions.

It’s a bizarre contrast: while China subsidizes its tech giants and pushes AI worldwide through its Belt and Road Initiative, American innovators are dragged into courtrooms and buried in compliance costs. In a global tech arms race, we’re tying the hands of our own champions.

The FTC’s push to undo Meta’s decade-old acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp—deals previously approved and in fiercely competitive markets—is a prime example. Likewise, the DOJ’s effort to break up Google and slow its AI progress ignores legal precedent and economic logic. These aren’t consumer protections; they’re self-inflicted wounds that drain resources from research and development.

This isn’t about defending monopolies, it’s about strategic coherence. As President Trump rightly said, “We want to have great companies. We don’t want China to have these companies.” In a world where scale equals strength, we cannot afford to dismantle the very firms that keep America competitive.

China is executing a unified strategy to dominate future technologies. Its $3 trillion tech investment plan dwarfs ours. It’s building national AI platforms, funding strategic acquisitions, and exporting tools that embed Communist Party values. If successful, China won’t just lead innovation—it will set the global rules, spreading censorship, surveillance, and centralized control.

To win this race, America must act with equal clarity. Every arm of government must align behind a single mission: ensure U.S. leadership in innovation. Right now, we face internal contradictions—where one branch fuels growth while another fights it.

The President should act immediately on four fronts:

1. Realign Executive Agencies: The FTC and DOJ must support, not sabotage, the administration’s tech vision. Their focus should be curbing real abuse, not punishing success.
2. Launch an AI Moonshot: We need an Apollo Program for AI. Public-private partnerships should accelerate innovation, promote American values, and ensure global reach.
3. Modernize Tech Infrastructure: Infrastructure now includes data centers, energy grids, and a skilled workforce. The $500 billion tech plan is a start—but must expand to include cyber resilience, STEM education, and energy security.
4. Leverage Scale for Innovation: Big tech is not the enemy of innovation—it enables it. Their resources fund startups, support risky R&D, and help America outpace global rivals.

If the U.S. is to win the battle for technological supremacy, we must stop sabotaging ourselves. The Golden Age of American Innovation will only come if policy, law and leadership move in concert. Anything less is an unforced error—one that risks not just our economic edge, but the values we hope to lead with.

Because the real question isn’t just who wins the tech revolution. It’s what kind of world that revolution creates, and whose values it reflects.

Colson Thomas is the founder of the College Republicans chapter at Murray State University and vice chairman of the Trigg County Republican Party.