AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order

by Kai-Fu Lee

Jack Ma was less amused. He called the move by Tencent a “Pearl Harbor attack” on Alibaba’s dominance in digital commerce. Alibaba’s Alipay had pioneered digital payments tailored for Chinese users back in 2004 and later adapted the product for smartphones. But overnight WeChat had taken all the momentum in new types of mobile payments, nudging millions of new users into linking their bank accounts to what was already the most powerful social app in China. Ma warned Alibaba employees that if they didn’t fight to hold their grip on mobile payments, it would spell the company’s end. Observers at the time thought this was just typical over-the-top rhetoric from Jack Ma, a charismatic entrepreneur with a genius for rallying his troops. But looking back four years later, it seems likely that Ma saw what was coming.