The Coming Wave: AI, Power, and Our Future

by Mustafa Suleyman

For containment to be possible, rules need to work well in places as diverse as the Netherlands and Nicaragua, New Zealand and Nigeria. Where someone slows down, others will rush forward. Every country already brings its distinct legal and cultural customs to the development of technology. The EU heavily restricts genetically modified organisms in the food supply. Yet in the United States genetically modified organisms are a routine part of agribusiness. China, on the face of it, is a regulatory leader of sorts. The government has issued multiple edicts on AI ethics, seeking to impose wide-ranging restrictions. It proactively banned various cryptocurrencies and DeFi initiatives, and limits the time children under eighteen can spend on games and social apps to ninety minutes a day during the week, three hours on the weekend. Draft regulation of recommendation algorithms and LLMs in China far exceeds anything we’ve yet seen in the West. China is slamming on the brakes in some areas while also—as we’ve seen—charging ahead in others. Its regulation is matched by an unparalleled deployment of technology as a tool of authoritarian government power. Speak to Western defense and policy insiders and they’re adamant that although China talks a good game on AI ethics and limitations, when it comes to national security, there are no meaningful barriers. In effect, Chinese AI policy has two tracks: a regulated civilian path and a freewheeling military-industrial one.

Global Guardrails, Local Loopholes: China’s Dual Track