Trump’s AI battle plan to combat China is flawed
The United States can only win Cold War 2.0 with the help of its network of allies across the world
Artificial intelligence has infiltrated big-power politics and is running rampant. In a four-day frenzy last week, the United States and China rolled out ambitious blueprints to dominate the AI landscape and shape the regulatory roadmap.
President Donald Trump’s administration in Washington unveiled a 28-page AI Action Plan, calling for “deregulation” by stripping away “bureaucratic red tape.” Days later, China responded with Premier Li Qiang urging “international cooperation.”
Speaking at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, he also proposed an AI cooperation body to thrash out regulations, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
“The two camps are now being formed,” George Chen, a partner at the Asia Group and co-chair of the digital practice, said, as reported by the CNBC network.
“China clearly wants to stick to the multilateral approach while the US wants to build its own camp, very much targeting the rise of China in the field of AI,” he added.
Even longstanding allies are framed as mere markets.
Kat Duffy, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
Cold War 2.0:
- Artificial intelligence is at the heart of the battle between the US and China for global high-tech dominance and military supremacy.
- Beijing will target the so-called Global South, particularly the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Washington will try to build partnerships among allies.
Delve deeper: Still, Trump’s deregulatory approach is likely to force Beijing to accelerate its quest for self-reliance and homegrown alternatives to Western technology, the South China Morning Post reported last week.
Between the lines: “The AI Action Plan takes aim at China’s Digital Silk Road, leader Xi Jinping’s signature initiative for wiring the world and winning the future,” Jonathan E Hillman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a commentary.
Big picture: Trump will also have to stop treating friends as foes. “Even longstanding allies are framed as mere markets to be captured in the interests of global American supremacy,” Kat Duffy, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, stressed.
China Factor comment: Unless Trump starts to recognize the alliance network fashioned after World War II, he risks making this the “Chinese Century.” Washington no longer has the clout to go it alone, it needs the help of like-minded democracies.