The future of global trade is unlikely to feature a reformed and revitalized WTO. Instead, we face a fragmented landscape defined by geopolitical blocs and competing regulatory spheres.

When President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Washington this week, AI governance is expected to be at the top of the agenda. The United States and China have been racing to develop increasingly powerful AI systems, and neither has shown much appetite for slowing down. But not even the winner of the AI race will be exempt from the profound risks the technology poses.

The challenges posed by the development of artificial intelligence are no longer hypothetical. They are already a reality. Viewing AI solely through the lens of competition could cause China and the United States to miss opportunities to coordinate and address shared risks.

The age of robots is here, and the race to dominate the field is clearly led by America and China. Each country’s distinct advantages provide critical insights into the future of industry.

America’s Gold Eagle framework is fragmenting global technology, accelerating the securitization of AI and pushing the world closer to a new kind of technological cold war—one that threatens to make AI a source of permanent global conflict rather than a shared tool for collective progress.​

Competitiveness in artificial intelligence is no longer defined solely by breakthroughs in individual technologies. Instead, it increasingly stems from a self-reinforcing system in which technological innovation, industrial deployment and governance reinforce one another, creating durable systemic capabilities.

Britain may not become a third AI superpower alongside China and the United States, but it is well positioned to serve as an important bridge across different governance frameworks.

Competition in artificial intelligence is a contest across the entire industrial value chain. Only by advancing open innovation, ensuring security and trust, promoting inclusive development and strengthening global governance can AI contribute to shared global prosperity.

The recent G7 and NATO summits suggest that Europe is seeking not only to retain the initiative in shaping regional security but also to play a more active role in building an improved international order. In doing so, it has absorbed elements of Donald Trump’s transactional diplomacy.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a new arms race, and to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past perhaps a drastic unification of competing models could prevent catastrophe.