The Home Team debates how the U.S. should balance AI regulation, economic growth and competition with China. The argument favors allowing innovation to move quickly while relying more heavily on competition when dominant companies become inefficient or abuse their position. U.S.–China AI competition is increasingly close on model capability. Stanford's 2026 AI Index reports U.S. institutions still produced more notable models in 2025, while Chinese models continued narrowing performance differences on several major benchmarks. AI could contribute to higher productivity, but the magnitude remains uncertain. Research has documented substantial gains for workers performing some AI-assisted tasks, while economy-wide benefits depend on adoption, investment and organizational changes that can take years to materialize.