hit the accelerator

hit the accelerator (third-person singular simple present hits the accelerator, present participle hitting the accelerator, simple past and past participle hit the accelerator)

1. (idiomatic) Synonym of hit the gas.
   • 2019 July 11, John Thornhill, “Does tech threaten to rerun the worst of the Industrial Revolution?”, in Financial Times‎:

     If Frey is right about the technology trap then this may also imply that China could leap ahead in the AI arms race. Sensitive to voter interests, western democracies may yet touch the brakes when it comes to mass deployment of AI technology, while authoritarian regimes hit the accelerator hard.