The global AI debate often fixates on models: Which ones are faster, which ones can do more, which ones are cheaper. The prominence of low-cost systems from China, like those from DeepSeek, z.ai, and Moonshot, has sharpened this focus, suggesting a narrowing gap with U.S. leaders.
The rise of these brilliant, cheap AI models diverts attention away from a fundamental truth: So long as the U.S. controls the underlying infrastructure that enables AI ecosystems, it will stay dominant.
