A grim future awaits the United States if it loses the competition with China on developing key technologies like artificial intelligence in the near future, the authors of a special government-backed study told reporters on Monday.

By Heather Mongilio

If China wins the technological competition, it can use its advancements in artificial intelligence and biological technology to enhance its own country’s economy, military and society to the determent of others, said Robert Work, former deputy defense secretary and co-chair of the Special Competitive Studies Project, which examined international artificial intelligence and technological competition. Work is the chair of the U.S. Naval Institute Board of Directors.

Losing, in Work’s opinion, means that U.S. security will be threatened as China is able to establish global surveillance, companies will lose trillions of dollars and America will be reliant on China or other countries under Chinese influence for core technologies.

“If that world happens, it’s going to be very bleak for democracy … China’s sphere of influence will grow as its technological platforms proliferate throughout the world, and they will be able to establish surveillance on a global scale,” he said. “So that’s what losing looks like.”

The U.S. needs to address the technological competition now because there is only one budget cycle before 2025, the year that China set as a target for global dominance in technology manufacturing, said SCSP CEO Yll Bajraktari. By 2030, Beijing wants to be the AI global leader, he noted.

“The 2025-2030 timeframe is a really important period for our country and the global geopolitical security,” he said.

The technological competition goes beyond conflict or a military focus, said Eric Schmidt, co-chair of the Special Competitive Studies Project and former Google CEO. His idea of winning looks at platforms.

One of the most popular social media sites is TikTok, which is Chinese-owned and operated out of Shanghai, Schmidt noted.

The U.S. also banned Huawei, a Chinese technology corporation, which outpaced American technology when it came to 5G.

“You can imagine the the issues with having platforms dominated by non-western firms, which we rely on,” Schmidt said.

The competition boils down to three battlegrounds, laid out in the Special Competitive Studies Project report, Bajraktari said. Those three spaces are AI, chips and 5G.

Source https://news.usni.org/2022/09/13/losing-to-china-in-ai-emerging-tech-will-cost-u-s-trillions-threaten-security-says-panel