The Trump administrationโs chief technology officer warned on Tuesday that while the US currently leads in artificial intelligence (AI) development, China is quickly narrowing the technology gap.
Why it matters: Chinaโs government has taken a top-down approach to improving the countryโs technological capabilities, with emphasis on AI advancements.
- The State Council, Chinaโs cabinet, in 2017 laid out plans to become a global leader in AI development by 2030.
- Some observers have dubbed the US-China dynamic an โAI arms raceโ amid trade tensions between the worldโs two largest economies.
โAlthough America is the leader in AI, China is working to catch upโฆ Today, our goal is very clear: The uniquely American ecosystem must do everything its collective power can to keep Americaโs lead in the AI race and build on our successes.โ
โUS Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios
Details: Kratsios added that the competition between the two nations too often focuses on the disparity in government spending on research and development, referring to Chinaโs funding budgets as being โaspirationalโ and โcryptic.โ
- Kratsios was speaking at an event in organized by think tank the Center for Data Innovation (CDI) in Washington D.C.
- He said that the US is home to 17 of the worldโs 32 AI unicorns, adding that the country has around 2,000 AI companies. The CTO criticized the Chinese government for โchoosing winners in the AI field,โ referencing the countryโs state-sanctioned AI championsโTencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Sensetime, and iFlytek.
- Kratsios said US government agencies planned to spend $1 billion on non-defense AI research during the next fiscal year.
Context: In February US President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing government agencies to increase their focus on AI. However, observers criticized the order, saying it lacked clarity and funding goals.
- Kratsios is not the first to warn of Chinaโs technological rise. In a report last month, the CDI said that China lags in AI but is catching up to the US.
- The organization said the countryโs civil-military partnerships, in which the government is promoting closer ties between the private sector and the military, could hurt Chinaโs AI ambitions as distrust of companies linked to the Chinese government grows amid US-China tensions.
