What America and China Fear Most About AI

Over the course of just a few months, artificial intelligence has become one of the most central issues, and one of the most fraught issues, in the relationship between the United States and China. Policymakers in Washington and in Beijing simultaneously worry about which country’s tech sector has the advantage and wonder whether the search for advantage will itself lead to catastrophe for both countries and everyone else. Recent bilateral meetings, including the one last week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, have yielded only minimal progress toward cooperation—agreement to start talking about talking about AI.

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Kyle Chan is a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Helen Toner is executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Both fairly uniquely combine deep knowledge of AI and deep knowledge of China, which they bring to their work in Foreign Affairs and beyond. Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke with Chan and Toner about how the two countries think and approach AI, with real differences as well as some new convergences; what it means to compete; and what it will take for the United States and China to find some way to reduce the biggest risks.

Sources:

“China Is Winning by Waiting” by Kyle Chan

“The Illusion of China’s AI Prowess” by Helen Toner, Jenny Xiao, and Jeffrey Ding

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“Privacy Is Power” by Andrew Imbrie, Daniel Baer, Andrew Trask, Anna Puglisi, Erik Brattberg, and Helen Toner

“Beyond the AI Arms Race” by Remco Zwetsloot, Helen Toner, and Jeffrey Ding

This episode of The Foreign Affairs Interview was produced by Adelaide Parker, Adrian Feinberg, David Kortava, Ben Metzner, and Kanishk Tharoor, with audio engineering by Todd Yeager and original music by Robin Hilton. Special thanks to Irina Hogan.

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