Latest news with #WinningtheAIRace
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First Post
04-07-2025
- Business
- First Post
America @249: From chips to jets, how US-China rivalry is reshaping the world
President Donald Trump's second presidency has brought the rivalry with China to the surface, so much so that their tensions are practically reshaping the world. Since January, Washington and Beijing have been engaged in backdoor politics, trying to get ahead in key sectors like technology and defence read more The US has entered its 249th year as an independent nation today. With over two centuries gone by, China remains America's greatest threat despite its economic and geopolitical prowess. President Donald Trump's second presidency has brought the rivalry with China to the surface, so much so that their tensions are practically reshaping the world. Since January, Washington and Beijing have been engaged in backdoor politics, trying to get ahead in key sectors like technology and defence. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD As the world's two largest economies compete for strategic dominance, their tensions are spilling into key regions, from the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait to Africa, Latin America, and cyberspace. The two countries are trying to get ahead in several races at once. Let's take a look at some of them: The tech race In January this year, China unveiled its flagship artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek, unnerving observers and stakeholders across the world. Dubbed as the 'biggest dark horse', DeepSeek sent shockwaves through Wall Street and Silicon Valley by creating AI models at a fraction of the cost incurred by OpenAI and Meta Platforms. Its grand reveal made some experts jump to the conclusion that Beijing is going to 'win' the AI war against the US. Part of the reason why DeepSeek sent jitters down US-based AI-makers' spines was its free-of-cost business model, which made its R1 version free for users, a key differentiator from OpenAI's o1 models, which cost $200 monthly for unlimited access. Three key events in May 2025 signalled that the US–China rivalry over artificial intelligence has escalated into a more intense phase. The first was a Senate hearing titled 'Winning the AI Race,' where American lawmakers voiced growing alarm that the United States' technological edge over China was rapidly diminishing. Then followed a ban on sales of critical software tools used to design semiconductors to Beijing, a move that was seen as nipping the bud of the problem of China getting ahead in the race. The chip software restriction marked a sharp, though brief, escalation in the ongoing US campaign to tighten controls on China's access to semiconductor technologies. These measures were intended to block Beijing from using American innovations to advance its military and artificial intelligence capabilities. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, the ban was lifted yesterday (July 3). The defence race China's defence spending on fighter jets has increased manifold in recent years. Admiral Samuel Paparo, the head of US Indo-Pacific Command, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, warned that China is 'outproducing' America in furthering its defence systems. 'China's unprecedented aggression and military modernisation poses a serious threat to the homeland, our allies, and our partners (in the Indo-Pacific). China is outproducing the United States in air, missile, maritime, and space capability and accelerating these,' he said in April. China is making significant investments in advanced combat aircraft. It already operates more than 200 J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighters and, last year, unveiled its second stealth jet of the same class—the J-35. In addition, Beijing is developing two sixth-generation fighters, the J-36 and J-50, both of which are currently in the flight testing phase. The economic race China overtook the United States in GDP measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), which adjusts for local cost of living, in the mid-2010s, with most estimates pinpointing the crossover around 2014–2016. By 2016, China's PPP‑adjusted GDP reached approximately $21 trillion, surpassing the US, while its share of global economic output increased from under 5 per cent in 1980 to nearly 18 per cent in 2016. This dramatic rise reflects decades of rapid industrialisation, export-led growth, and urbanisation following China's reform era beginning in 1978. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Today, China's economic and geopolitical influence continues to expand on several fronts. With an estimated PPP‑GDP of nearly $39.4 trillion in 2023, about 20 per cent of the world's total compared to the US's 14.8 per cent, China's economic weight allows it to exert significant influence over global trade, investment, and development patterns. The trade race Like the rest of the world, China, too, faced the wrath of Trump tariffs. In fact, it met with the most harsh trade measures by Washington. Although signs of reset have started to show now, the ripples of the US-China trade war were felt across the globe. The US trade deficit widened more than expected in May, with both imports and exports declining. Trade data published Thursday showed the world's biggest economy logged an overall trade gap of $71.5 billion in the month after Trump imposed a 10 per cent duty on most trading partners before pausing steeper rates for dozens of these economies. US imports were down 0.1 per cent to $350.5 billion, as incoming shipments of goods ticked down. Imports of consumer goods dropped by $4.0 billion, with those of certain apparel and toys both sliding, although imports of autos and parts climbed. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD US exports, meanwhile, dropped by 4.0 per cent to $279.0 billion, with declines largely seen in industrial supplies and materials, the report showed. With inputs from agencies
Gizmodo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Republicans Pander to Big Tech With Proposed 10-Year Ban on State AI Regulations
Over the weekend, Republicans in the House unveiled a sweeping budget proposal that includes massive cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, climate programs, and more. But buried amongst those cuts, legislators also proposed a decade-long ban on AI regulations at the state level. Although framed as upholding innovation, the attempted moratorium is yet another clear display of the federal government pandering to the desires of Big Tech. Within the House Energy and Commerce Committee's bill, lawmakers proposed that 'no state or political subdivision may enforce any law of regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems' starting from the day that the proposal is enacted. Laws imposing 'a substantive design, performance, data-handling, documentation, civil liability, taxation, fee, or other requirement' on listed AI systems would fall under the moratorium. However, there are a few exceptions, like if the above requirements are due to federal regulation or if the law also applies to non-AI systems that 'provide comparable functions'. In addition, the pause isn't applicable to regulations that 'remove legal impediments' or 'facilitate the deployment or operation of' AI systems. The proposal comes shortly after the Commerce Committee's hearing titled 'Winning the AI Race'. During his testimony, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that allowing states to assemble a patchwork regulatory framework 'will slow us down at a time where I don't think it's in anyone's interest.' And sure, abiding by regulations in 50 different states is hard. But a) that's how the U.S. works, each state can have its own unique laws, and b) there wouldn't be such an amalgamation of AI regulation if the federal government actually put together its own. Regardless of which party holds power, the U.S. is notorious for falling behind when it comes to tech-related legislation. One of the biggest examples is the U.S.'s lack of its own comprehensive federal privacy law. As a result, states have no choice but to enact piecemeal legislation to tackle a rapidly changing environment as new technologies usher in their own unique concerns. Per the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 45 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C., introduced AI bills. On Monday, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois), a ranking member of the Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee, blasted the proposal as a 'giant gift to Big Tech' and 'shows that Republicans care more about profits than people.' Similarly, the Tech Oversight Project's executive director, Sacha Haworth, told the Hill that the 'so-called 'states' rights'' party's provision 'is not only hypocritical, it's a massive handout to Big Tech.' Haworth added that 'it comes as no surprise that Big Tech is trying to stop [efforts to regulate AI] dead in its tracks.' Since taking office, Trump has taken a clear stance on letting AI run wild. In January, he rescinded Biden's executive order for AI regulation and, shortly after, directed the Office of Management and Budget to overhaul its directive on federal uses of AI. Although Trump released his own AI guidance last month that copies Biden's in a few areas, his administration has overall played fast and loose with AI, with no concern for analyzing its civil rights impacts. During his opening statement at last week's meeting, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) summarized the dominant attitude towards AI regulations, stating, 'All of this busybody bureaucracy – whether Biden's industrial policy on chip exports or industry and regulator-approved 'guidance' documents – is a wolf in sheep's clothing. To lead in AI, the U.S. cannot allow regulation, even the supposedly benign kind, to choke innovation or adoption.' Currently, the proposed moratorium's full scope is unclear. David Stauss, an attorney with Husch Blackwell, told the International Association of Privacy Professionals, 'A lot would depend on how the terms are defined.' Legally speaking, AI is a nebulous term. Stauss noted that while Colorado's AI Act uses a broad definition based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's own, other states are more limited. But if federal legislator's definition is broad, Stauss said, 'all sorts of laws could be implicated, even product liability and medical malpractice laws as extreme edge cases.' It's entirely possible that this proposal gets removed down the road. If it stays, its language will likely be adjusted one way or the other. But its very inclusion in House Republicans' budget bill suggests that the U.S. will continue hurtling down the AI-or-be-damned pathway with no regard for the consequences.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Microsoft, OpenAI to urge senators to speed power supply permitting, boost government data access
Microsoft and other AI leaders on Thursday will urge US lawmakers to streamline federal permitting for artificial intelligence energy needs and open more government data sets for AI training , according to written testimony reviewed by Reuters. "America's advanced economy relies on 50-year-old infrastructure that cannot meet the increasing electricity demands driven by AI, reshoring of manufacturing, and increased electrification," Microsoft President Brad Smith's written testimony says for a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on "Winning the AI Race". OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will tell senators that as AI systems improve people will want to use them more, and meeting that demand will require more chips, training data, energy and supercomputers. "We want to build a brain for the world and make it super easy for people to use it, with common-sense restrictions to prevent harm," Altman's testimony says. CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator's written testimony highlights the energy-intensity of AI computation, citing an Energy Department estimate that data centers' consumption could rise to 12% of US electricity by 2028 from 4.4% in 2023. "Millions of hours of training, billions of inference queries, trillions of model parameters, and continuous dynamic scaling are all driving an insatiable hunger for compute and energy that borders on exponential," he said. He called for efforts "to streamline the permitting process to enable the addition of new sources of generation and the transmission infrastructure to deliver it." AMD CEO Lisa Su will tell senators leading in AI requires "rapidly building data centers at scale and powering them with reliable, affordable, and clean energy sources." She added "moving faster also means moving AI beyond the cloud. To ensure every American benefits, AI must be built into the devices we use every day and made as accessible and dependable as electricity." Smith called for opening US government data sets for AI training, citing actions by China and the United Kingdom. "The federal government remains one of the largest untapped sources of high-quality and high-volume data," Smith said. "By making government data readily available for AI training, the United States can significantly accelerate the advancement of AI capabilities."
