AI Photo: VCG

A White House official has proposed to thwart China's artificial intelligence (AI) development by exporting "AI tech stacks" that integrate not just chips but also algorithms and applications, while speaking at a US Senate subcommittee hearing. Meanwhile, a US senator claimed to defend the US' global AI dominance and win the AI race against China at the same hearing, according to the website of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation.

Chinese experts dismissed the ideas as "wishful thinking rooted in static logic." This approach is shortsighted, counterproductive to innovation, and contrary to the collaborative ethos needed for AI's global advancement.

In a Senate subcommittee hearing held on Wednesday local time, Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said that in 2020, the American innovation enterprise held a comfortable lead in AI over closest competitors, but by 2024 the gap had begun to close significantly. "We stood in danger of losing our preeminence in this critical technology," Kratsios said.

"We're at a moment where we do actually have competitive technology. We have the best chips, models, applications and it's incumbent on the US government to help promote these technologies broadly so that when the PRC has the capacity to actually export chips themselves, we're already there and already around the world," Kratsios said at the hearing focusing on the US' AI Action Plan unveiled in July. 

"Simply put, Kratsios, representing some voices of the US, wants to intensify AI rivalry: sell premium AI tech stacks to allies but not China, allowing the US to dominate markets and keep China from advancing, ensuring perpetual US leadership. This mindset ignores long-term consequences," Zhang Xiaorong, director of the Beijing-based Cutting-Edge Technology Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, in an era where AI's promise lies in collective progress, Kratsios' zero-sum game risks fracturing the open ecosystem that defines the field's development, said Zhang.

According to media reports, a tech stack is a collection of technologies - including advanced semiconductor chips and algorithms - used to develop an application. This was cited in the US' AI Action Plan unveiled in July, which stated that the US will "deliver secure, full-stack AI export packages - including hardware, models, software, applications, and standards - to America's friends and allies around the world." The action plan also claimed to counter Chinese influence in international governance bodies.

Apart from targeting China, experts also doubt the security of American allies using US AI technologies and chips, as Kratsios claimed at the hearing that "if we aren't the standard around the world those models and those applications will be fine-tuned on adversary models running on adversary chips."

Analysts pointed out the potential security loopholes of US chips. The Xinhua News Agency reported in August that for months, some US lawmakers have been pushing for installing "hardware kill switches" and mandatory tracking devices in AI chips through legislation such as the so-called Chip Security Act.

The bill would force manufacturers to embed location trackers in chips to monitor their international movements and potentially allow remote disabling without user consent, said Xinhua.

In terms of the "effectiveness" of this only-exporting-to-allies approach, Zhang also noted that Kratsios' assertion that "exporting US AI stacks to allies while restricting China will maintain American leadership" oversimplifies the global AI ecosystem. AI thrives on open collaboration, data sharing, and diverse contributions. 

"China's AI progress, driven by autonomous innovation and open collaboration, demonstrates resilience against containment," Zhang said. 

According to official data, China is home to over 4,500 AI-related enterprises by May, with the core AI industry valued at nearly 600 billion yuan. In 2024, Chinese entities accounted for more than 61 percent of global AI patent applications, while new industries, business formats, and digital models contributed over 18 percent to China's GDP.

"Kratsios' strategy ignores this momentum, assuming restrictions will stifle China's growth. Instead, such measures can only accelerate China's self-reliance," said Zhang.

In some core areas like chip architecture and algorithms, China has achieved breakthroughs, building a self-reliant ecosystem spanning AI chip R&D, algorithm development, data annotation, model training, and applications. This integrated chain fosters synergy, reducing costs, Zhang noted.

Notably, in response to the rapid rise of China's open-source AI models, the Trump administration has shifted from the Biden administration's concerns that open-source models could enable competitors to gain US technological advantages. Instead, it has actively supported open-source development, particularly to counter China's growing open-source models and their potential to set global standards, Xiao Qian, Dean of Office of International Affairs at Tsinghua University, said in an article published on China-US Focus platform on Tuesday.

On August 5, OpenAI released its first open-source model in five years, GPT-oss, entering the open-source ecosystem's competitive arena. Commentators suggest this move aims to reassert OpenAI's leadership in the open-source domain, directly challenging China's open-source AI advancements, said Xiao.

Chinese experts also stressed that Kratsios' fear-driven strategy risks a fragmented AI landscape, stifling innovation and economic growth. Instead of containment, the US should embrace competition as a catalyst for progress, collaborating with China and others to set global AI standards. This ensures technological advancement, economic stability, and shared prosperity, aligning with the open-minded spirit needed for AI's potential.

Back in July, when asked to comment on the US' AI action plan, which claimed to aim "to cement US dominance in AI to stay ahead of China," Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said that "China believes that all parties should jointly promote the open and inclusive development of AI for good and for all. Our emphasis should not be on confrontation and competition, but rather on sharing the dividends of AI and achieving common development.