The chip law is not enough. Here’s how the US is catching up with China in artificial intelligence

Despite the chip and science law and various measures taken by recent administrations, Washington still has to bridge the technology gap with Beijing, which has invested heavily in artificial intelligence for years. Reducing this gap appears to be a prerequisite for achieving the set goals

Chip and science law promoted by management Biden It may not guarantee the technological hegemony that the United States seeks. The ambitions of the plan are clear and one of the most ambitious: the government has committed more than $52 billion over the next five years, to stimulate internal research and production to become independent and not depend on Asian semiconductor production. . Also, $500 million has been allocated to create an International Security and Technological Innovation Fund. In short, Washington looks to the future by rethinking the mistakes of the past, which has led it to import 98% of the chips it uses from the Far East. An important, but perhaps too late action to win the challenge with China.

Bringing America back to Earth is actually a magazine analysis foreign affairs, for which extra effort is explicitly required. On the other hand, technology means that the future and whoever controls the basic tools will have a huge advantage and a dominant position over the rest of the world. A revolution is already underway and China has been preparing for it for much longer than its historical foe. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence’s report released last year, in which President Joe Biden and his staff were urged to take a comprehensive approach to artificial intelligence, came four years after the Chinese government’s strategy, which makes ‘IA’ its motto in most countries. its regions. Therefore, in the next few years, the United States will take several steps forward, but it remains to be seen whether they will allow it to reach Beijing.

In fact, the many billions that China has invested give it a huge advantage. The danger for America is that its attractiveness will convince the nations most willing to accept its development. The allure is precisely due to a lack of awareness on the part of Washington, to enjoy its strengths for far too long – big companies, best circulating technicians, universities that produce talent – without looking at the other realities of facts. Production is declining due to the constant search for low-cost products,L ‘The military is not tapping into the benefits of high technology as it should, and slowly, artificial intelligence has taken a back seat to other national priorities. On the contrary, this should be an added value to achieve the set objectives.

The bottom line is that the United States is lagging behind. To recover, according to the Historical Journal, it will not be enough to give oneself a national program that one respects (however necessary and important), but it will be necessary to move forward. Which means investing a lot in sectors like biotechnology, quantum computing, and energy. The sectors in which it is necessary to dominate if you want to maintain superpower status. All this to unwind as much of the supply chains as possible from China or its allies. But it will also have to pay attention to its use of artificial intelligence. Like any innovation, this can be used for or against society. In the second case, it means creating new inequalities or increasing existing inequalities, which further distrust the authorities. None of this will happen, as each individual risk must be accounted for in a careful cost-benefit analysis for the individual and society, promoting democratic values ​​and promoting sustainable economic growth – which must be accompanied by special concern for the environment – as well as raising the level of personal safety. A practical example came just yesterday, as the White House outlined Six basic principles To organize Big Tech. The United States, he argues from Washington, needs “clear rules of the road to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs can compete on an equal footing.”

However, the United States will not be able to play this role alone. On the contrary, they will have to surround themselves with many topics on which they think like themselves. Chatham House also announced this last January, when the British think tank called in a document for transatlantic cooperation. “While the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom differ in their approaches to some areas of technology governance, cooperation, alliances and agreements can still be strengthened,” they wrote in the report. It is as if we say: We must not agree on everything, if the end goal is one. In this way, it will be possible to present those facts that are sought by states that have not yet aligned themselves in a large country. Even better than the big alliance. Putting AI at the center of one’s programs can no longer seem to be postponed.