China’s AI strategy is a bigger deal than its 5G ambitions

So there’s still time and opportunity to develop a solid AI policy that doesn’t rely on the same nationalist / protectionist nonsense currently informing the US government’s 5G policy. The paper aims to summarize how China’s leadership sees AI strategically in terms of both the country’s economy and national security. […] … China’s success in commercial AI and semiconductor markets has direct relevance to China’s geopolitical power as well as its military and espionage AI capabilities. China’s ambitions (and ability) to drive AI development has been talked about a lot in the last few quarters, but the CNAS paper, published online last week, argues that there’s a gap between what American pundits think about China’s AI ambitions and what those ambitions actually are (and what the Chinese government will do to fulfil them). It also sees the US as its only serious competitor in the AI field, and despite talk over “concerns” about a military-focused AI arms race, China is aggressively pursuing exactly that.