December 08, 2017
China Is On a Whole-of-Nation Push for AI. The US Must Match It
China has made no secret of its ambitions to lead the world in artificial intelligence, nor of the military and geopolitical advantage it hopes to gain from this rapidly advancing technology. A closer look at Beijing’s whole-of-nation AI strategy shows the challenge to the United States — and suggests what America must do lest it be eclipsed in this latest round of great-power competition.
China’s vision came into focus over the summer with the release of the New Generation AI Development Plan, which articulatesan ambitious agenda to “lead the world” in the field. Chinese leaders, no longer content to copy Western technologies, are aiming to become the world’s “premier AI innovation center,” advancing an “innovation-driven” strategy for civilian and military development.
The implementation of this agenda will be a whole-of-government endeavor involving 15 central agencies and a growing number of local governments. Their efforts will foster the growth of a robust AI industry and ecosystem and pour billions into longer-term research and development of next-generation technologies. The plan will tap the dynamism of national tech champions, such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and iFlytek, that have been leading China’s AI revolution.
Read the full commentary in Defense One.
More from CNAS
-
The United States Needs a Strategy for Artificial Intelligence
Commentary
In the coming years, artificial intelligence will dramatically affect every aspect of human life. AI—the technologies that simulate intelligent behavior in machines—will chang...
By Martijn Rasser
-
America Desperately Needs AI Talent, Immigrants Included
Commentary
The United States is engaged in a global technology competition in artificial intelligence. But while the US government has shown commitment to developing AI systems that will...
By Megan Lamberth
-
The American AI Century: A Blueprint for Action
Reports
Foreword By Robert O. Work We find ourselves in the midst of a technological tsunami that is inexorably reshaping all aspects of our lives. Whether it be in agriculture, finan...
By Martijn Rasser, Megan Lamberth, Ainikki Riikonen, Chelsea Guo, Michael Horowitz & Paul Scharre
-
The China Challenge
Commentary
The United States and China are strategic competitors, and technology is at the center of this competition, critical to economic strength and national security. The United Sta...
By Martijn Rasser, Elizabeth Rosenberg & Paul Scharre
