Google’s Ruth Porat told Semafor’s Ben Smith that an AI power vacuum could emerge if the US and its companies don’t move fast enough to compete globally — and that China would step in to fill it. “When I am with any head of state, they say ‘We will not miss this digital transformation,’” Porat said at a Semafor Haus event in Davos. “They also say, ‘We would like to work with the US. If the US is not here — we will work with China.’”
Major economies are racing to develop their own sovereign AI — with some adopting novel tactics — but the most popular models remain those developed in the US and China. If China goes into countries where the US is absent, Beijing will be able to execute a playbook it perfected with infrastructure decades ago, through the Belt and Road Initiative: when the US pulled out of countries, or refused to fund airports or bridges, Chinese expertise, and money, stood ready to fill the vacuum.
It’s a concern that remains top of mind for AI executives broadly, even if there is a bit of political expediency at work: OpenAI’s Sam Altman has been sounding the alarm bell on China for months.