(NewsNation) — Experts weighed in on the best ways to develop and use artificial intelligence in the interests of national security in a hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee.

At the center of the hearing was the question of how America could beat China when it comes to the AI race, as both countries seek to use the emerging technology to advance their interests on the global stage.

Klon Kitchen, with the American Enterprise Institute, said the biggest threat to U.S. dominance was technologies like TikTok, which could be used to gather data from Americans that would then be fed to AIs.

While TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is Chinese-owned, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has repeatedly denied accusations that the company is collecting data from American users and feeding it back to the Chinese government.

Data was a key focus of the hearing. In order to train artificial intelligence, developers must have access to large datasets the AI can learn from. Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI, said the Department of Defense has an advantage over China because it produces far more data than the People’s Liberation Army.

“Data truly is the ammunition that will power our future efforts in the military,” Wang said.

Because the PLA produces less data, Chinese AI developers are often relying on open-source data sets that don’t provide specific information relevant to military tactics or goals. The challenge comes with collecting and tagging DoD data so it can be used to develop AI that will assist troops.

The panel also stressed the need for lawmakers and senior defense officials to develop ethical guidelines for the development and use of AI and to test all AI tools to ensure they fall within those parameters.

“We want to make sure this technology that’s part of our lives has our values, the values we fought for,” said AI ethicist Dr. Haniyeh Mahmoudian.