US and China Unveil Contrasting AI Strategies in Global Tech Race

Inside the Summit Where China Pitched Its AI Agenda to the World

Behind closed doors, Chinese researchers are laying the groundwork for a new global AI agenda -- without input from the US. Three days after the Trump administration published its much-anticipated AI action plan, the Chinese government put out its own AI policy blueprint. Was the timing a coincidence? I doubt it. China's "Global AI Governance Action Plan" was released on July 26, the first day of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), the largest annual AI event in China. Geoffrey Hinton and Eric Schmidt were among the many Western tech industry figures who attended the festivities in Shanghai. Our WIRED colleague Will Knight was also on the scene. The vibe at WAIC was the polar opposite of Trump's America-first, regulation-light vision for AI, Will tells me. In his opening speech, Chinese Premier Li Qiang made a sobering case for the importance of global cooperation on AI. He was followed by a series of prominent Chinese AI researchers, who gave technical talks highlighting urgent questions the Trump administration appears to be largely brushing off. Zhou Bowen, leader of the Shanghai AI Lab, one of China's top AI research institutions, touted his team's work on AI safety at WAIC. He also suggested the government could play a role in monitoring commercial AI models for vulnerabilities. In an interview with WIRED, Yi Zeng, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the country's leading voices on AI, said that he hopes AI safety organizations from around the world find ways to collaborate. "It would be best if the UK, US, China, Singapore, and other institutes come together," he said. The conference also included closed-door meetings about AI safety policy issues. Speaking after he attended one such confab, Paul Triolo, a partner at the advisory firm DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group, told WIRED that the discussions had been productive, despite the noticeable absence of American leadership. With the US out of the picture, "a coalition of major AI safety players, co-led by China, Singapore, the UK, and the EU, will now drive efforts to construct guardrails around frontier AI model development," Triolo told WIRED. He added that it wasn't just the US government that was missing: Of all the major US AI labs, only Elon Musk's xAI sent employees to attend the WAIC forum. Many Western visitors were surprised to learn how much of the conversation about AI in China revolves around safety regulations. "You could literally attend AI safety events nonstop in the last seven days. And that was not the case with some of the other global AI summits," Brian Tse, founder of the Beijing-based AI safety research institute Concordia AI, told me. Earlier this week, Concordia AI hosted a day-long safety forum in Shanghai with famous AI researchers like Stuart Russel and Yoshua Bengio. Comparing China's AI blueprint with Trump's action plan, it appears the two countries have switched positions. When Chinese companies first began developing advanced AI models, many observers thought they would be held back by censorship requirements imposed by the government. Now, US leaders say they want to ensure homegrown AI models "pursue objective truth," an endeavor that, as my colleague Steven Levy wrote in last week's Backchannel newsletter, is "a blatant exercise in top-down ideological bias." China's AI action plan, meanwhile, reads like a globalist manifesto: It recommends that the United Nations help lead international AI efforts and suggests governments have an important role to play in regulating the technology. Although their governments are very different, when it comes to AI safety, people in China and the US are worried about many of the same things: model hallucinations, discrimination, existential risks, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, etc. Because the US and China are developing frontier AI models "trained on the same architecture and using the same methods of scaling laws, the types of societal impact and the risks they pose are very, very similar," says Tse. That also means academic research on AI safety is converging in the two countries, including in areas like scalable oversight (how humans can monitor AI models with other AI models) and the development of interoperable safety testing standards.

The U.S. May Change Strategy in Its Battle With China for AI Dominance

China’s AI messaging is starting to sound like “AI for all,†but the United States is split on its own tactic. This weekend, Shanghai was host to China’s annual “World Artificial Intelligence Conference,†a government-organized AI showcase packed with tech giants from both China and the U.S. including Huawei, Tesla, and Amazon. The theme was “Global Solidarity in the AI Era,†and Chinese Premier Li Qiang opened the conference with a sweeping proposal: the establishment of a global AI cooperation organization, potentially headquartered in Shanghai. The Chinese foreign ministry has since released an action plan calling for international collaboration in AI through open-source communities and joint research. While China’s AI messaging is starting to sound like “AI for all,†the United States is still split on its own battle tactic. The Trump administration has welded an isolationist trade approach globally, and particularly with China when it comes to AI and technology. But with recent policy changes, that hardline has seemed to soften as Washington is split between two camps on how to approach the battle for AI dominance with China: that is, whether to continue with a heavily protectionist approach or join China’s calls for solidarity. Beijing’s invitation to rally behind a Chinese vision of AI cooperation landed in the middle of a tense year in AI geopolitics. The United States has been the global leader in AI development, but domestic confidence in America’s competitive edge was shaken earlier this year. Following the meteoric success of Chinese AI company Deepseek’s low-cost yet high-performance model, the Trump administration took a hard line on advanced technology exports to China. The administration attempted to slam the brakes on Beijing’s hardware access by further tightening existing export controls on advanced Nvidia chips to China, in an effort to curb the country’s rapid innovation, starve its AI ecosystem, and preserve U.S. dominance. But the ban hasn’t gone exactly to plan. A Financial Times report from last week revealed that roughly $1 billion worth of Nvidia’s banned advanced B200 chips had been smuggled into China in the three months since the export controls went into effect. The administration changed course on the ban and quietly retreated from its hard-line stance earlier this month, when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced that the company would resume selling its older H20 chips legally to China. Notably, the FT found that Chinese black market demand for the smuggled B200s faced a noticeable drop after the relaxation of the H20 ban, suggesting that Chinese companies would rather take legal access to older chips over the highest technology illegally (companies who buy smuggled chips can’t take advantage of important Nvidia customer support when installing them in their own data centers). The implications of this finding could throw the logic of blanket export bans into question. China isn’t proposing global solidarity in AI development out of the goodness of its heart. Open cooperation and joint research not only helps the development of AI technology in China, but it is also a soft power play by China. By centering this cooperation in Shanghai and under Chinese terms and values, Beijing is trying to cement its position in the global AI trade, potentially achieving global AI dominance over the U.S. But Trump has made it clear that he wants America to win that battle. “America is the country that started the AI race, and as President of the United States, I’m here to declare that America is going to win it,†Trump said while announcing the measures last week. The U.S. government’s fears are twofold when it comes to AI and China: losing economic edge and jeopardizing national security. Currently, the Chinese AI industry is dependent on American chipmakers like Nvidia. Skeptics of blanket export bans say that if China has no access to advanced American AI technology, it will have no choice but to develop its own. And if China builds a true rival to Nvidia and gains self-sufficiency in AI hardware, the U.S. may lose its grip on the global AI market. At the center of these concerns is Chinese tech giant Huawei, which is already developing AI computing systems that rival Nvidia’s most advanced products. Advocates of this approach in Washington hope to have more control over the scale of innovation in China by flooding the market with American products. And especially by controlling what chips go into the country, the U.S. could help curb the proliferation of more advanced chip technology in China. The Trump administration’s recent move to ease restrictions on older Nvidia chip models could be following this logic, and might be bearing its fruits already, at least according to the Financial Times’ findings. It’s two steps forward and one step back. Although the U.S. has seemed to relax the rules on chip exports into China, the Trump administration is eager to continue the government’s hard line based on the President’s AI Action Plan that was unveiled last week. “Advanced AI compute is essential to the AI era, enabling both economic dynamism and novel military capabilities,†the administration wrote in the action plan. “Denying our foreign adversaries access to this resource, then, is a matter of both geostrategic competition and national security. Therefore, we should pursue creative approaches to export control enforcement.†Proponents of stricter export controls have sizable national security concerns when it comes to China’s AI development. Chinese AI companies proved that you don’t need the latest hardware to make AI that outperforms benchmarks, with the release of both Deepseek and Alibaba-backed Kimi K2 this year. Even though newer chips are kept out of China while the older ones dominate chip sales, that does not necessarily mean that state-of-the-art AI models that rival or even exceed American ones can’t be developed. Going even beyond just market competition, these models could pose security risks when deployed for use in the Chinese military. While China and the U.S. are not in direct military conflict, tensions are high between the two superpowers, particularly over China’s territorial claims in Taiwan and the South China Sea and American involvement in the region. All of this comes as U.S. and China trade envoys are meeting in Stockholm this week to discuss what exactly the long game is here. The countries are expected to decide on a tariff agreement or opt for yet another extension of the previously granted truce that is set to expire on August 12. The outcome of these talks, no matter what, is likely to have implications going even beyond what’s stated on paper. It could very well set the stage for the next phase of the war over global AI dominance.

How America Can Lead the AI Revolution

When the Trump administration released its AI Action Plan last week, the message was clear: "the United States is in a race to achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence." This is not simply a competition over who has the best algorithms or semiconductors - it is a race to shape the future of medicine, energy, education, media and more. It was a bold and necessary declaration. The 28-page plan outlines more than 90 policy actions that the administration says can be implemented within a year to build the infrastructure for data centers and to make U.S. software and chips the standard platform for AI globally. It's a Marshall Plan-like vision to mobilize private capital, reshore computer supply chains and create a Chief AI Officer Council, all in the service of advancing American AI. But success will require more than technical dominance. It will require global leadership and strong industry collaboration - linking U.S. innovation with international engagement, cross-sector partnerships and a bold diplomatic strategy. For decades, America's leadership in emerging technologies has rested on more than Silicon Valley's innovations. It has drawn strength from the integrity of the U.S. economic system, our democracy, trust with our allies and the widely held belief that American power would be exercised for the greater good. That's what sets us apart from authoritarian competitors - and it's why other nations have looked to the U.S. as a partner, not just a provider. Now, we must bring that same approach to the AI era. American AI systems are grounded in principles of pluralism, transparency and the free flow of information. By contrast, other global AI models, such as Deep Seek, are designed to conform to Chinese Communist Party-defined narratives that prioritize control, surveillance and censorship. This distinction is critical - and our government must actively communicate that message. The telecommunications race a decade ago offers a powerful warning of what could go wrong. Chinese telecoms firms such as Huawei captured global markets by offering lower-cost infrastructure, while the U.S. struggled to mobilize. AI is even more consequential. This isn't just about hardware. It's about embedding ethical systems into AI decision-making that could affect outcomes in courts, classrooms and markets around the world. If countries adopt AI models shaped by opaque data and centralized control, the future global digital landscape will reflect those values. While other nations are advancing legislation to regulate AI - such as the EU's AI Act and Canada's proposed AI and Data Act - the United States has opted for a more open, market-driven approach, a strategy designed to foster innovation. But removing guardrails also carries responsibility: We must ensure that the importers of our sensitive technologies are aligned with our values and interests in how it is used. To succeed, we need to pair innovation with diplomatic tactics that lead to greater adoption of U.S. technology. China has invested heavily in steering the United Nations and other international bodies toward its standards. The U.S. must push back, advocating for transparent, rules-based governance around AI norms. If existing organizations do not align with our vision, we must continue to pursue our objectives through alternative international bodies such as the Group of Seven, the forum of seven of the world's largest advanced economies; the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum; and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - or consider forming a new coalition better suited to advancing our global goals. We must also use the tools of economic diplomacy at our disposal, such as the Development Finance Corporation, the U.S. government agency that partners with the private sector to mobilize capital in emerging markets, which has allocated resources to develop digital infrastructure overseas. The U.S. Departments of Commerce, State and the Export-Import Bank, the official export credit agency of the United States, must work together to advance trustworthy AI abroad. Exporting computer infrastructure is only half the job. Countries also need training, legal frameworks and support. In many developing countries, there is real demand for AI solutions in public health, agriculture and education. If the U.S. invests in co-creating such applications, rather than just trying to sell AI platforms, we not only gain market share, we deepen trust. Equipping our diplomats with AI fluency will be essential. They must be able to explain the value of American AI, understand local priorities and broker responsible partnerships. AI is the 21st century's Space Race, and the Trump administration deserves credit for charting an ambitious course. Winning it will require more than innovation - it will take global engagement. By working with allies, leveraging diplomacy and aligning public and private sector efforts, the U.S. can shape an AI future that advances both global prosperity and American strategic interests at home.

The U.S. AI Strategy : Can America Outpace China in the Tech Race?

What if the race to dominate artificial intelligence is the defining contest of the 21st century? As nations vie for technological supremacy, the stakes couldn't be higher. The United States, recognizing the fantastic power of AI, has unveiled a bold and comprehensive strategy to secure its position as the global leader in this critical domain. This isn't just about innovation -- it's about shaping the future of geopolitics, safeguarding democratic values, and outpacing rivals like China in the race to harness AI's potential. With AI poised to transform everything from national security to healthcare, the U.S. is doubling down on its commitment to lead, not follow, in this new era of technological competition. The question is: can it succeed? Wes Roth looks deeper into the U.S. AI action plan -- a sweeping blueprint designed to address everything from fostering innovation to countering authoritarian AI models. You'll discover how the U.S. plans to use AI as a fantastic force while tackling critical challenges like ethical concerns, workforce readiness, and global collaboration. We'll unpack the strategies aimed at outpacing China's growing influence in the AI sector, from modernizing infrastructure to promoting international partnerships rooted in democratic principles. As the world stands on the brink of an AI-driven future, this plan offers a glimpse into how the U.S. intends to shape it -- not just for itself, but for the world. What does it mean for the balance of power and the values that guide technological progress? To sustain its competitive edge in the global AI landscape, the U.S. is implementing policies to accelerate the development and deployment of AI technologies. Key initiatives include: These measures aim to create a fertile environment for innovation, allowing the U.S. to set global benchmarks for responsible AI use. By streamlining processes and fostering collaboration, the U.S. positions itself as a leader in the rapidly evolving AI sector. The U.S. AI action plan emphasizes the importance of aligning AI systems with democratic principles. By fostering technologies that uphold free speech, protect privacy, and avoid ideological bias, the U.S. seeks to differentiate its approach from authoritarian models. Open source initiatives play a pivotal role in making sure accessibility and accountability, building trust in AI systems both domestically and internationally. This commitment to democratic values not only strengthens public confidence but also reinforces the U.S.'s position as a global advocate for ethical AI practices. Here is a selection of other guides from our extensive library of content you may find of interest on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Despite its potential to transform industries, AI adoption remains slow in critical sectors such as healthcare, education, and public services. Challenges such as regulatory complexities, public skepticism, and limited access to resources hinder progress. To overcome these obstacles, the U.S. is introducing regulatory sandboxes -- controlled environments where organizations can test AI technologies without immediate regulatory constraints. These sandboxes: By addressing these barriers, the U.S. aims to unlock the full potential of AI and drive its adoption across diverse sectors. AI's role in national security is a cornerstone of the U.S. action plan. Recognizing the strategic importance of AI in defense and intelligence, the U.S. is prioritizing efforts to safeguard national interests. Key priorities include: These initiatives aim to ensure resilience and preparedness in the face of evolving security challenges, reinforcing the U.S.'s position as a global leader in AI-driven defense strategies. Equipping the workforce with AI-related skills is essential for sustaining innovation and making sure economic competitiveness. The U.S. is implementing targeted initiatives to build a robust talent pipeline, including: These efforts aim to prepare the workforce for the demands of an AI-driven economy, making sure that the U.S. remains at the forefront of technological advancement. AI is transforming scientific discovery, and the U.S. is committed to harnessing this potential to drive innovation across diverse fields. Key efforts include: By using AI to advance scientific research, the U.S. positions itself as a leader in addressing global challenges and fostering innovation. The safety and interpretability of AI systems are critical to their long-term success and public acceptance. The Department of Defense's DARPA is spearheading research to: These efforts aim to build trust in AI technologies, making sure their responsible use and alignment with ethical standards. Modernizing infrastructure is essential to support the growing demands of AI applications. The U.S. action plan includes significant investments in: These developments lay the foundation for sustained AI growth and innovation, making sure that the U.S. remains a global leader in AI infrastructure. To counter China's influence and shape global AI policies, the U.S. is advancing its AI systems through strategic international partnerships. Key strategies include: These efforts aim to foster global collaboration while maintaining a competitive edge in the international AI landscape. The proliferation of synthetic media, such as deepfakes, poses significant risks to information security and public trust. To address these challenges, the U.S. is: These measures are critical for maintaining public confidence and safeguarding the integrity of information in an increasingly digital world. Collaboration between the public and private sectors is a cornerstone of the U.S. AI action plan. By fostering partnerships with industry leaders, researchers, and other stakeholders, the U.S. aims to: This collaborative approach ensures that the U.S. remains at the forefront of AI innovation while addressing societal and ethical concerns.

US and China Chart Diverging Paths in Global AI Action Plans | PYMNTS.com

In "America's AI Action Plan," President Donald Trump said, "it is a national security imperative for the United States to achieve and maintain unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance." According to an English translation, China's AI action plan, "Action Plan on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence," said "only by working together can we fully realize the potential of AI while ensuring its safe, reliable, controllable and equitable development," and "create an inclusive, open, sustainable, equitable, secure and reliable digital and intelligent future for all." The U.S. strategy rests on three pillars: accelerating innovation, building infrastructure and asserting international leadership. Its tone is competitive, aiming to dismantle "onerous regulation," restore American semiconductor manufacturing and extend U.S. dominance in frontier AI models, including through export controls on AI chips and components. China's plan sets out 13 areas of action, including building AI infrastructure, promoting cross-border data sharing, developing green AI standards and fostering collaboration with developing countries. The plan champions "open source communities," emphasizes "sovereignty," and calls for equitable representation in global AI governance platforms. "By enabling AI's benefits to be broadly shared, Chinese open models could win international goodwill and position China as an AI benefactor to countries across the developing world," they wrote. Moreover, China has embraced open ecosystems while U.S. companies have mostly developed closed AI models. "If Washington's new AI strategy does not adequately account for open models, American AI companies, despite their world-leading models, will risk ceding international AI influence to China," Daniels and Dohmen wrote. But the larger danger is that the U.S. "will lose key strategic leverage in emerging technology diplomacy in key regions of the world" as China exerts its "soft power" influence, they wrote. See also: Remember DeepSeek? Many Adopt Its AI Models Despite Security Concerns At this month's World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, where China's AI action plan was unveiled, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said AI innovation is being hindered by bottlenecks such as chip supplies, the FT reported. Li also said that "technological monopolies" and restrictions are hindering AI innovation, and it could become "an exclusive game for a few countries and companies," without explicitly naming the U.S. He unveiled plans to create an organization for AI cooperation in Shanghai and two United Nations dialogue mechanisms for regulating AI. China promotes AI as a tool for international development and poverty reduction, seeking to support less affluent Global South countries in building capacity and closing the digital divide. It seeks global coordination on AI risk testing, incident response and transparency. Although both plans recognize the transformative potential and risks of AI, they diverge on who should lead global governance and how it should be structured. China seeks a consensus-based framework anchored in the U.N. The U.S. aims to build a global AI alliance around American infrastructure, norms and technologies. China positions itself as a champion of multilateral governance and digital equity, while the U.S. frames AI as a power competition. The Chinese plan calls for "respect for national sovereignty" and a non-discriminatory governance model. In contrast, the U.S. plan vows to "counter Chinese influence in international governance bodies" and establish American AI systems as the "gold standard." Both plans endorse open source AI development, AI literacy efforts and the expansion of AI into public services. However, the U.S. plan makes open weight models a matter of strategic importance, calling them "essential for academic research" and a potential global standard. The U.S. plan is also explicit in opposing ideological influence in AI systems. It directs federal procurement policies to favor models that are "objective and free from top-down ideological bias," and tasks the National Institute of Standards and Technology with removing references to misinformation, diversity, equity and inclusion from its risk frameworks. DeepSeek Upgrades AI Reasoning Model to Rival OpenAI and Google House Select Committee Says DeepSeek Is Threat to US Security