THE UNITED STATES is strongly claiming that it still leads China in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race, as the two countries are moving towards talks on the issue.
No less than Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made the statement that the US leads China in AI development and deployment.
He added that the US and China will hold talks on AI with the aim, among others, of preventing powerful AI models falling into the hands of non-state actors who can use the technology for evil purposes.
“The two AI superpowers are going to start talking,” Bessent said.
“The reason we are able to have wholesome discussions with the Chinese on AI is because we are in the lead. I do not think we would be having the same discussions if they were this far ahead of us,” he added.
Obviously, the US is currently trying to slow China’s AI ambitions through restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports, particularly high-end chips produced by Nvidia.
Only one Nvidia chip – the H200, the company’ second most powerful chip – has been cleared by the US for sale to around 10 Chinese companies.
WHY US STILL AHEAD
One of the reasons why the US is ahead of the AI global race is among the biggest initial public offerings (IPOs) this year will be conducted by US-based companies OpenAI and Anthropic.
Both companies are eyeing IPOs of up to $60 billion each, which can push their valuations to the trillions of dollars.
“These three companies are kind of unique,” said Jay Ritter, a specialist in IPOs at the University of Florida, referring to OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX, which is also planning a huge IPO this year.
Also, US-based Cerebras Systems, a maker of AI-focused semiconductor chips, conducted its IPO on Thursday last week amounting to $5.55 billion. Its share price closed at $311.07, or 68-percent more compared with the IPO offer price.
However, China is determined to become an AI superpower as it launched last March the 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026 to 2030 that also sets ambitious goals for AI and cybersecurity that will have an international or global reach.
The 15th Five-Year Plan intends to deeply integrated AI across 90 percent of China’s national economy by 2030, prioritizing infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, education, agriculture, and public governance.
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