Discursive Manipulation of National Security and Industrial Competitiveness in U.S. AI Regulation: Domestic Contestation and the Fragmentation of Global AI Governance

Against the backdrop of generative AI emerging as a core strategic asset for major powers, the rhetorical tropes of national security and industrial competitiveness are subject to strategic manipulation by divergent domestic actors. The deregulatory camp within the White House invokes industrial competitiveness to roll back security-focused executive orders; the security faction in Congress expands chip export controls in the name of national defense; state-level authorities counter federal overreach through consumer protection mandates; and Silicon Valley deploys a two-pronged lobbying strategy. Taking the 2023-2026 policy pendulum and BIS chip regulations as its analytical case, this paper demonstrates that domestic contestation spills over globally through transmission channels. This has produced a global AI governance landscape defined by fragmentation, hollowed-out soft law processes, and a three-bloc divide across the U.S., the EU, and China, while the shortening commitment half-life of U.S. policy positions has inflated the costs of multilateral cooperation. The study also identifies limited positive spillover effects. In response, the paper puts forward targeted strategies. The conclusion argues that U.S. internal regulatory divisions constitute a mechanism that externalizes domestic political costs as global governance uncertainty. Understanding this mechanism is a prerequisite for reshaping the multilateral AI order.