AI capitalist China vs command-control US

Technology - bless it - has a way of complicating things. AI is growing along two nodes: one led by government, another shaped by market, as can be expected in China and the US. The funny thing is that the roles seem to have switched. In other words, Trump's US seems to be pursuing a 'command and control' regulatory model, marshalling vast amounts of public resources for AI's development with one 'kill switch' available for the big boss if things go awry, while Xi's China seems to be content letting companies do the heavy lifting with an 'open source' option.

Communistic Washington has, on occasion, stepped in with export controls, and wants Silicon Valley to stay ahead of Chinese competitors. Focus in Beijing is more on commercialising AI by making it easily accessible. The US has easier rules on AI safety, so that companies can innovate faster, while China is firm about the behaviour of AI agents and seems to be pretty sure about how fast its companies can innovate.

Read more: China's Huawei forecasts billions of agents will dominate AI traffic by 2035


The contradiction dims if you look at where the two countries fit in the AI development matrix. The US is dealing with frontier models that need proprietary research and enormous energy and computing resources. Hence the helping hand of government, which comes with bouts of security panics. China has it easier, using diluted US models to push its industrial advantage further. The US is doing the cutting-edge stuff, but the application will be in Chinese factories. Makes sense to be laissez-faire while building strength in advanced chip-making.

The US has an issue with AI deployment because it is the world's largest importer of goods, a large part of which is produced in China. To find its feet, AI needs to be deployed in producing goods. And factories are not returning to the US in a hurry. AI has a huge playground in Asia, where it will learn to fund its way out of US tech labs. Rules of commerce for the technology will be shaped by Chinese values. The US should be thankful that when it comes to AI, China is more of a capitalist than it is.