In their Newsweek article, Corrigan and Bresnick argue:
“China appears to be closer to the United States in AI capabilities than some experts thought, despite extensive U.S. efforts to constrain the Chinese AI sector’s access to cutting-edge semiconductors.”
Furthermore, they note:
“The U.S. lead appears to be more on the order of months than years.”
The emergence of DeepSeek and its impact on AI-sector companies on January 27, 2025, can be seen as a manifestation of the “new bipolarity” between the U.S. and China.
Perhaps Schmid et al. (2025) are correct in suggesting that we should move away from framing AI competition as an “arms race."
Even former President Biden, in his farewell speech, reinforced this geopolitical framing when he stated:
“In the age of AI, it’s more important than ever that the people must govern. And as the land of liberty, America—not China—must lead the world in the development of AI.”
Instead, Schmid and his co-authors propose that we should view AI development as a “geopolitical innovation race," meaning:
“AI capabilities are seen as a relevant, even crucial asset in the unfolding great power politics of a shifting world order.”