Billy Atwell & Yusuf Mahmood: Winning the AI Race Without Surrendering American Values

Artificial intelligence will define the 21st century—and America must lead, without losing its values.

In this timely conversation from America First Policy Institute Studios, Billy Atwell, AFPI’s Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, sits down with Yusuf Mahmood, AFPI’s Policy Director for Artificial Intelligence, to unpack one of the most consequential issues facing the nation today.

As AI rapidly transforms education, health care, national security, and the global economy, Atwell and Mahmood explore how the United States can harness AI’s enormous benefits while mitigating its real risks. They discuss why America must lead the world in AI development—not just to stay competitive with China, but to ensure that American values, not authoritarian ones, shape the future of this powerful technology.

The conversation addresses critical topics including protecting children and vulnerable populations, guarding against mass surveillance and propaganda, maintaining human decision-making in military applications, and preventing AI from becoming a tool for exploitation or censorship. Mahmood also outlines the biggest obstacles to U.S. leadership—energy capacity, semiconductor manufacturing, and regulatory overreach—and explains why an America First approach is essential to securing innovation, jobs, and national security.

This is essential viewing for policymakers, business leaders, parents, and anyone who wants to understand how AI will reshape daily life—and what it will take to ensure it strengthens, rather than undermines, the American way of life.