Xi Jinping casts himself as leader of new AI world order

Chinese leader Xi Jinping cast Beijing as the leader of a new AI global order, vowing to challenge US dominance of the sector through the release of open-source models.

In his first visit to the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Xi warned that “new historical injustices” were emerging from unequal access to the technology, calling on countries to seize the “historic opportunity” of open models. Underscoring the point, Chinese tech firm Moonshot used the country’s insignia tech conference to unveil what it claimed is the world’s biggest open AI model. Though US systems remain the most advanced, experts believe that China’s leadership in other layers of the AI stack — including abundant access to chips and energy — could give its champions an advantage.