The 'internet of things' is coming

National security experts are warning that China could corner the 5G wireless market and wreak havoc on the United States.

The so-called "internet of things" promises to link a person's whole life together in real time, with virtually unlimited gaming and streaming capabilities and the ability to lock up one's house, turn off the lights, and adjust the thermostat by phone from any location.

Digital Trends likens the transformation to the Jetsons – "A network of self-driving cars all sending data between each other and communicating with traffic lights, road sensors, aerial drones and so on."

Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy sees the prospect of someone attacking the U.S. power grid and leaving everyone permanently without electricity. He says this development could be cataclysmic.

"The grid could go down at their direction and stay down until, literally, we've lost America as we know it, including, perhaps, as much as 90 percent of our population within a year," he warns.

China, he says, is working to corner the market on powerful 5G technology.

"The Chinese intend to take full advantage of the access to information, data, private conversations, proprietary information … to affect things like the so-called internet of things for the purposes of global domination," Gaffney explains.

He calls it an existential threat.