WATCH: Rubio says AI advancements could ‘destabilize societies all over the world’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that “the United States right now is a global leader on AI," but “I think it is also wise to say that that lead is not irreversible. It has to be sustained and there will be a real challenge in sustaining it, and we're going to have to stay focused on it.”

Rubio was responding to a question from Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., who asked during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations whether export controls on Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment “are critical to maintaining our technological advantage" over China.

Rubio agreed, saying the U.S. wants to lead not only on technological advancements but also on “the standards that will govern how AI is used.”

“AI will have very positive impacts on our economy and societies. It will also have some detriments,” Rubio said, pointing to white collar jobs that will be affected. “We have to start thinking not simply about the impact that AI will have on those jobs, but the societal pressures that that will create, not just in the United States but in economies all over the world.”

Rubio compared the effects of AI to the effects of industrialization and automation.

“It will make the worker more efficient and more valuable, but it will eliminate some jobs, and those jobs will have to be replaced with new jobs or new skills,” he said. “That's not just an economic issue, that is a political issue that over time could destabilize societies all over the world, and so we have to start thinking about AI in those terms as well.”

Rubio faces back-to-back hearings before Senate and House committees on Tuesday, his first since the Iran war started at the end of February.

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