Washington’s first national security memorandum on artificial intelligence (AI) could worsen the country’s current geopolitical tensions with China and escalate the technological rivalry playing out between the two powers, the South China Morning Post reports.
Published last week, the memo declared that the US “must lead the world’s development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI” and maintain its advantages over rivals such as China. “Ceding the United States’ technological edge would not only greatly harm American national security, but it would also undermine United States foreign policy objectives and erode safety, human rights, and democratic norms worldwide,” it said.
The document characterised Washington as promoting “safe, secure, and trustworthy AI development and use” that “respects human rights, civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy and promotes worldwide benefits.”
[See more: China will ‘overtake the US in hi-tech and military manufacturing in a decade’]
The Post noted that analysts expected Beijing to ramp up its own investments in developing AI technology in response to the document, and approach self-reliance in the sector with a greater sense of urgency.
Prominent Chinese strategist Lu Yongxiang recently predicted that China would overtake the US in the manufacture of advanced chips necessary for AI by 2035. In the first half of 2024, financial media outlets reported that China invested US$20 billion in chip making equipment – more than the US, South Korea and Taiwan combined.
Washington frequently aims barbs at its geopolitical rivals, while ignoring its own rights violations at home and abroad. The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have been using facial recognition and other AI-powered technologies while making few public disclosures on the subject, and the US lacks a human rights-centred data protection law.
