In a bold assessment published in the Financial Times, economist Tej Parikh argues that the global race for artificial intelligence supremacy should be viewed as a grueling marathon rather than a fleeting sprint. China’s vast energy reserves, leadership in open-source models, and unmatched manufacturing prowess position it to surge ahead in this high-stakes competition.
American giants like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic currently hold the lead with their cutting-edge AI models, powered by access to top-tier chips. However, Parikh warns that this dominance is far from assured. Chinese firms such as DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Moonshot AI are closing the gap at breakneck speed. China’s large language models are rapidly narrowing the performance divide with their Western counterparts.
What sets China apart is its dominance in open-source AI development. These freely available models allow developers worldwide to modify, refine, and retrain them without restrictions, fostering explosive innovation.
Economists at Capital Economics, a leading British research firm, back this view. Their analysis suggests that with continued advances in algorithmic efficiency, data quality, and system-level design, Chinese-trained AI models can rival America’s best. As energy demands skyrocket for AI training, China’s resource abundance becomes a game-changer.
This shift could redefine global tech leadership, with implications for economies, industries, and geopolitics. The marathon is just beginning, and China appears built for the long haul.
