US efforts to hold back China’s artificial intelligence (AI) advancement “are unlikely to succeed”, as the mainland finds ways to skirt Washington’s export curbs and nurture local innovations, rapidly challenging American dominance in the technology, according to recent research by a US think tank.
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Since Microsoft-backed US start-up OpenAI unveiled its groundbreaking ChatGPT chat bot in late 2022, China has been increasing investments nationwide to catch up in the field of generative AI (GenAI).
The US government, in turn, has restricted the shipments of advanced AI chips to China and barred a list of mainland AI chip designers from accessing the manufacturing services of world-leading foundries.
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Such measures, introduced on national security grounds, have had “limited success” in curbing China’s AI development, according to a report published in last month by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington-based non-profit think tank.
The report – which analysed data including published scientific articles, patents, talent and infrastructure – found that China’s robust academic foundation, innovations and state-backed funding are propelling the nation to become a major challenger to US leadership in the AI sector.