China’s industrial policy, including its “Delete America” initiative and major state investments, has secured dominance in legacy chips and reduced reliance on U.S. technology. While still dependent on American AI chips, Chinese firms like Huawei are quickly developing competitive alternatives, threatening U.S. chipmakers.

The country is steering artificial intelligence toward a more balanced, secure and inclusive development path. In doing so, it is contributing to a global development trajectory that is more intelligent, equitable and sustainable.

In the high-tech center of the world, technology and capital are moving from merely lobbying Washington to reshaping it, a trend that poses ongoing challenges to the structure of political power in the United States.

​​In July 2025, the U.S. and China released national AI strategies with global aims: the U.S. ties AI exports to political alignment, while China promotes open cooperation with fewer conditions. These contrasting approaches reflect broader political differences and may give China an edge in global AI influence.

While no one has waved an official checkered flag in the Sino-American race for AI supremacy, the markets are betting that the United States will prevail. The chipmaker Nvidia recently became the world’s first $4 trillion company (and its CEO, Jensen Huang, has acquired global rock-star status). Microsoft, the biggest investor in OpenAI’s for-profit entity, is not far behind, with a valuation of $3.7 trillion.

By equating artificial intelligence data flows with national security risks, the United States has effectively designated China as a presumptive problem. This has not only soured the atmosphere for bilateral AI cooperation but also promises to cast a long shadow over global AI collaboration.

Data security governance has become a global priority amid rising competition over data resources, with the U.S., EU, and China adopting distinct models: the U.S. favors a market-driven, security-conscious approach with public-private cooperation; the EU relies on strict regulatory frameworks like the GDPR; and China enforces centralized, party-led oversight. Despite their differences, all three aim to strengthen data security within their respective systems.

The United States is moving aggressively to solidify its technological dominance. This has become the core logic behind its efforts to reshape the global order. But the best approach for the world is to develop a model of cooperation rooted in mutual benefits and shared gains.

U.S. restrictions aimed at obstructing China’s technological development have, in practice, accelerated China’s pursuit of technological self-reliance.

The tech rivalry between China and the United States is fast becoming a key variable in the trajectory of relations. It not only reflects divergent innovation paths but fundamentally reshapes the global technological order.