A breakthrough model from Chinese AI company DeepSeek sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling this week as it became clear that it could rival Western models like ChatGPT in performance, but was reportedly built at a fraction of the cost.
Earlier this month, American users of China’s TikTok switched to the closest alternative, another Chinese social media app called Xiaohongshu, in anticipation of a ban. And on the day of President Donald Trump’s inauguration, China’s EAST reactor set a new record for sustainable fusion energy.
Entrenched Western thought holds that China, because it is communist, conformist, or Confucian, cannot innovate effectively. But as the examples above show, in many areas China is now keeping up with the times or has a technological advantage. China is increasingly becoming a technology leader rather than a follower, and is more than capable of innovating. China has emerged as a rival to the United States in areas such as robotics and artificial intelligence, and is leading in electric vehicles, batteries and nuclear power. Complacency about U.S. leadership, whether in Washington or in allied capitals, risks failing to take the necessary actions now to ensure the long-term position of the United States and the relevance of technology leaders such as Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom.
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