Is China winning the AI race?

Or is it playing a different game than the US?

Illustration of a Chinese A.I. bot with a 'Best In Show' rosette, and a broken down American bot
The danger now is that the 'China-dominated future is already arriving'
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Shutterstock)

It is the space race of the 21st century: A competition between the United States and China to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence tools is at a critical point. Some crucial signs point toward America faltering in that race.

The "new tech cold war" between the U.S. and China is now entering a "more dangerous" phase, said Marina Yue Zhang at The Diplomat. The Senate recently held a hearing focused on "concerns that the United States' lead over China was eroding fast," while President Donald Trump has been signing AI chip deals with "key regional allies" in the Middle East. Those developments signal American concern that China is "increasingly setting the pace and shaping the rules" in the new AI-dominated world. Beijing, after all, accounts "for over 70% of global AI patent filings."

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Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.