ZHAO Minghao
Professor and Deputy Director, Center for American Studies, Fudan University
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a central arena of strategic competition between China and the United States, with spillover effects extending to critical minerals, energy infrastructure, and the global industrial ecosystem. During a potential “Trump 2.0” administration, the linkages between the U.S. technology sector and the policy community are expected to deepen further, while U.S. AI policy has already shifted from a risk-governance orientation toward a comprehensive acceleration of innovation. The United States continues to promote a full-stack AI ecosystem among its allies and to advance its strategic layout through multilateral mechanisms such as the “Technology Prosperity Deal”.
China’s AI development trajectory, by contrast, places greater emphasis on practical deployment and embodied intelligence, deeply integrating AI into the real economy, including manufacturing and infrastructure, while fostering an open-source model ecosystem. China has established AI-adaptive data centers in East Africa and Southeast Asia and is also exploring avenues for cooperation with European countries.
With regard to managing China–U.S. AI competition, technological activities could be categorized into three domains: foundational research, commercial applications, and sensitive military uses. Dialogue and cooperation should be advanced in a gradual, pragmatic, and modular manner. Looking ahead, China and the United States should consider resuming intergovernmental AI consultations and deepening communication and coordination in areas such as AI and nuclear command and control, as well as biosecurity. Both countries could jointly provide a greater supply of AI-related global public goods for the Global South.
