Can China catch the US in the AI race?

The United States and China are both significantly improving their artificial intelligence capabilities as rival superpowers scramble to harness rapidly evolving technologies for economic and military advantage.

The conventional wisdom is that the United States is several years ahead of China in this race, but Beijing is working to close the gap and move towards its goal of becoming the world leader in AI innovation by the end of 2010. They are investing tens of billions of dollars. .

While the United States is actively working to keep its adversaries at bay, both countries have unique challenges to overcome in a competition that is far from over.

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Doug Kalidas, former chief of staff to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, is a fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center, which focuses on how the U.S.-China conflict will affect U.S. technology, politics, and policy. Research is focused on. In an interview with FOX Business, he detailed the current state of the AI ​​race between the United States and China, saying both countries “take it very seriously.”

US position

Kalidas explained that there are two aspects to the US approach from a policy perspective. One is to invest in American capabilities to move the United States forward, and the other is to try to slow down China. The United States does both.

The US has been active in restricting China’s ability to obtain cutting-edge chips and chip-making equipment, and Kalidas said the US government is also working to prevent China from accessing the best AI algorithms and systems. He said that he is beginning to take some measures.

The space has attracted a lot of money over the years, but after OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022 and got everyone’s attention, “money started flowing into all kinds of VC funds, and now every company is funding it,” he said. We’re trying to become an AI company. ”

The release of the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT and its capabilities sparked a flurry of private investment in AI technology. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images)

But in the public sector, “the federal government is often talking about funding evolving AI research and development, particularly for national security purposes. [but the] Rhetoric was stronger than action,” Kalidas said.

The highest standard was the Chip and Science Act, promulgated in the summer of 2022, which primarily provided funding for semiconductors. The United States has the ability to manufacture cutting-edge chips if it somehow loses access to imports from Taiwan and perhaps South Korea. So the goal is to produce them here domestically.

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There was also a big push in the United States to overhaul the Institute for Scientific Research and Development, but since then, “Congress hasn’t been funding it very much, and even when people are very interested in something, It’s hard to get new money in Washington, D.C., including this one.”

China’s position

Kalidas pointed out that even though China lags behind the US in terms of AI, it does have certain advantages.

“China doesn’t really value civil rights or privacy rights,” he said. “They can collect data from the public through things like facial recognition databases.”

But he said facial recognition is probably the only area of ​​AI where China is ahead of the U.S., adding: “If we really wanted to, we could probably catch up,” he said, “but we don’t use it as much as they do. They’re using it for a lot of law enforcement purposes, and we don’t agree with that.”

A display showing a facial recognition system at the first Digital China Summit held at the Straits International Conference and Exhibition Center in Fuzhou, China on April 22, 2018. (Visual China Group (via Getty Images)/Visual China Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Still, the US also has incredible data, given that all major current systems are trained on internet-scale databases.

When it comes to disadvantages in racing, China actually has more disadvantages. Troublesome regulations Calidas talks about the development of AI systems, especially generative AI.

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He said generative chatbots like ChatGPT are a “horror” to the Chinese government, adding: “One of the ways Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party have maintained power is by tightly controlling access to information. ” It is said that it is the body.

For example, the risk of allowing Chinese citizens to be questioned about what happened in Tiananmen Square in the 1980s is too much for the Chinese Communist Party to tolerate, so the Chinese Communist Party has cracked down on widespread public use of generative AI systems. Ta.

Iconic photo of Beijing demonstrator “Tank Man” blocking the path of a tank squad near Tiananmen Square during protests against the Chinese government in 1989. (Getty Images Archive Photo/Getty Images)

Still, he said, Chinese leaders are aware that if they completely crack down on generative AI systems, they will lose the AI ​​race, “so China has its own battle.”

Why do the US and China care so much about AI dominance?

“First and foremost, it’s military power,” Kalidas says. “A military confrontation between the United States and China is very real.”

It is believed that in the next generation or two, combat will be completely transformed by AI.

Kalidas gave the example of swarms of drones. He said it’s easy to defend a small number of drones, but when a military has thousands of them, all moving in formation in real time based on an AI feedback system. , it is said that it is difficult to defend.

Members of the Offensive Swarm Drone System demonstrate their skills by flying a drone during a ceremony to celebrate India’s 73rd Army Day in New Delhi on January 15, 2021. AI-controlled swarm drones are considered the future of warfare. (Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)

As such systems become faster, being able to integrate more sophisticated AI systems into the military will be a huge advantage, he said. “They’re afraid of introducing AI systems.” . ”

Many AI systems have developed to this extent in just a few years, so it is thought that the more sophisticated they become, the faster their development will be. “So if we fall behind now, we risk falling behind in the long term.”

Military power is primarily based on economic power, and AI is expected to play a major role in economic growth for generations to come.

Looking to the future

Kalidas said China is currently increasing spending on AI and other emerging technologies, but the recent U.S. budget, released as the federal budget for fiscal year 2024, shows that investments in science and technology research, including AI, are There’s a real shortage.”

“If you are concerned about competition between the United States and China, [that] It’s really bad policy,” Kalidas said.

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He doesn’t think any policymakers specifically wanted to starve that funding, and there are so many competing items in the budget that people care about, so AI isn’t at the top of the list. he pointed out.

“Voter [are] “We’re not thinking specifically about funding science or research for AI,” Kalidas said, “but it’s very important and we need to fix it and better fund it in the coming years.” If I don’t, I feel like I’m going to really regret it.” ”