The latest US artificial intelligence (AI) and supply chain initiatives are doomed to fail, according to a prominent political scientist who also argued that efforts to restrict US companies’ access to low-cost Chinese models would backfire.
Instead, he argued, the United States and China should collaborate on driving global economic development to generate the external demand needed to sustain long-term growth.
“US frameworks such as Pax Silica, the chip alliance and the rare earth alliance explicitly target a third party, which is bound to fail,” Zheng Yongnian, dean of the school of public policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, told a conference on Sunday.
The escalating technological rivalry between the world’s two largest economies has prompted Washington to set up the international groupings Zheng referred to, as part of efforts to curb Beijing’s momentum and secure supply chains in areas such as AI, semiconductors and critical minerals.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that a draft State Department document had warned that members of Pax Silica could be excluded if they signed up to the alternative Chinese-led World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation.
Last month, US media outlet Axios also reported that the White House was considering adding several Chinese AI labs to a blacklist that could restrict their ability to use US technology.