Gabe Evans

Military and National Security Uses of AI

Positions on the use of AI in military, intelligence, or national security contexts.

Rep. Gabe Evans (R, CO-08) has expressed concern that China is 'dominating in this Open-Source AI race' and that China has 'laws on the books to require mandatory backdoors for the PRC and the PLA to be able to manipulate this technology.' He frames U.S. AI development as critical to national security and military competitiveness, implying support for American military AI development as necessary to counter China.

Source: Statement · congress.gov

AI Regulation Philosophy

A candidate's general stance on regulating AI systems.

In February 2026, Evans and Rep. Nick Langworthy sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick opposing state-level AI regulations, specifically Colorado's SB 205 and New York's RAISE Act. Evans stated: 'The U.S. can choose to lead the world in this transformative technology or we can regulate it into the hands of Communist China.' He has called for a 'smart, consistent national approach that keeps innovation here at home' rather than state-level regulations, and the Energy and Commerce Committee characterized his work as 'helping fight overregulation.'

AI Preemption

Stance on federal preemption of state AI laws, states' rights to regulate AI, and the patchwork of local vs. national regulatory approaches.

Evans and Langworthy explicitly urged the Commerce Department in February 2026 to address the 'patchwork of conflicting state AI laws' and called for 'a coherent, pro-innovation national AI policy framework.' Their letter criticized Colorado's SB 205 and New York's RAISE Act as 'burdensome and overly restrictive state regulations,' strongly implying support for federal preemption of state AI laws.