Opinion: An overhyped U.S.-China arms race in AI helps big tech and venture capital
The prospect of war reaps profits for defense tech firms, and preparing for algorithmic warfare is even more lucrative
It’s a familiar refrain in tech boardrooms and government corridors: China is aggressively challenging America to an arms race in artificial intelligence. Whoever wins will control the geopolitical landscape — and global economy — for generations.
For years, Pentagon officials and tech luminaries like Eric Schmidt, Peter Thiel, and Alex Karp have parroted this doomsday scenario.
But the narrative doesn’t hold water.
There’s compelling evidence that China’s AI capabilities have been overestimated. While Chinese technologies have advanced rapidly, they aren’t an imminent national security threat. Consider this alternative perspective from retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan: “It feels at times like we are dangerously close to making the same kind of erroneous ‘bomber-missile gap’ assessment with AI that we did with the Soviet Union in the early 1960s.”