A recent report from a U.S. think tank indicates that China may soon overtake the United States as the leading global force in artificial intelligence (AI). The analysis highlights a surprising twist: rather than stifling China’s advancements in AI as intended, U.S. export controls aimed at protecting national security might actually be fueling China’s progress.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a prominent U.S. economic and innovation policy think tank, recently released a report suggesting that China is on track to either match or surpass the United States in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. The report underscores China’s persistent drive and strategic investments in AI, which position it to lead in this field.
According to the ITIF report, the U.S. efforts to limit China’s access to advanced technologies through export controls have achieved only limited success. Instead of stifling China’s progress, these measures may have inadvertently accelerated the development of China’s AI ecosystem. The report also highlights that China’s favorable financial environment is helping it close the gap with the U.S. in AI development.
While private sector investment in AI remains a stronghold for the U.S., the report notes that foreign investments are increasingly flowing into China’s generative AI sector. For instance, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco venture capital arm recently backed a $400 million investment in Zhipu AI, signaling growing confidence in China’s AI potential. Furthermore, the Chinese government is bridging the funding gap by providing state-led financial support to domestic AI companies.
The report also stated that although U.S. AI-related papers have more citations and greater private sector involvement, China produces the most AI research papers and maintains strong competitiveness in this field.
As of last year, in AI research paper rankings, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Tsinghua University, affiliated with the Chinese government, took the first and second spots, surpassing Stanford University and Google’s parent company, Alphabet. However, regarding paper citations, Alphabet and UC Berkeley ranked first and second, while the Chinese Academy of Sciences ranked ninth.
Notably, China has outpaced the U.S. in the number of AI patents. From 2010 to 2022, China filed 115,000 patents and acquired about 35,000. In comparison, the U.S. filed around 27,000 patents and holds about 12,000, meaning China has nearly three times as many patents as the U.S.
In 2023, Chinese companies and institutions led the field in generative AI patents. Tencent, for example, holds over 2,000 patents and dominates the top four positions. Among the top 20 patent holders, 13 are Chinese entities, while only four U.S. companies, including IBM and Alphabet, are represented. IBM and Alphabet rank fifth and eighth, respectively. Samsung also made the list, ranking seventh ahead of Alphabet.
The report highlighted Tsinghua University as the cradle for major Chinese AI startups and noted the rise of startups like Zhipu AI, Moonshot AI, Minimax, and Baichuan. It also pointed out that large Chinese language models (LLMs) like Alibaba’s Qwen 1.5 and Zhipu AI’s ChatGLM3 are rapidly developing, with some surpassing the performance of specific U.S. models.
The report recommended that the U.S. Congress and the White House establish and fund a comprehensive national AI strategy that addresses two main goals: increasing AI development and adoption in the U.S.
Most Commented