The cutting edge of technology in 2023 is artificial intelligence, with the (sometimes creepy) ChatGPT nearing an “iPhone moment” as a revolutionary tool that is being adopted at record speed. But it could just be a sideshow to the real story: China’s emergence as the world’s tech superpower. From Baidu’s Ernie Bot to electric vehicle maker BYD, China has had an answer for almost every technological development taking on the world. The U.S. has responded with trade restrictions that limit Beijing’s access to critical materials for making chips used to power gadgets. And President Xi Jinping has, in turn, advocated for China to become self-reliant when it comes to technology. A think tank study partly funded by the U.S. State Department found that China’s lead is “sometimes stunning” and Western democracies are floundering.
The study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), based in Canberra, found that in 37 out of 44 areas covering crucial technology such as defense, space, artificial intelligence, and robotics, China is clearly in the lead. And while the U.S. occupies second place in most categories, China is far ahead thanks to its stellar research, knowledge imported from overseas, and years of policy work geared toward tech talent and investments.
"Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs," said the ASPI report, which tracked “high-impact” research based on citation numbers to measure the areas in which countries were having breakthroughs. The think tank urged Western governments to invest more in research and development.
