AI Cold War

Extracted Attributes

• Nature

  Geopolitical tension, arms race in artificial intelligence technology

• Skepticism

  Cannot be proven that an AI military race is taking place; Big Tech may promote narrative for less regulation; less binary reality than portrayed

• Key Players

  United States, China

• Analogous To

  Second Cold War, nuclear arms race

• Broader Context

  New world order with two parallel digital ecosystems

• Core Components

  Military capabilities powered by AI, advanced semiconductors

• Impact on China

  Pressure to innovate in AI, significant lag in hardware

• China's Approach

  Whole-of-government, industrial collaboration policy

• Economic Strategies

  US Export Controls, tariffs for industrial reshoring

• Potential Consequences

  AI-driven asymmetric warfare, breakdown in international scientific collaboration, disinformation campaigns, targeting critical infrastructure

• Associated Technologies

  AI agents, Model Context Protocol (MCP)

• US National Security Interest

  Trusted AI and Autonomy

• Key Proponents of New World Order View

  Hemant Taneja, Fareed Zakaria

Timeline

• Discussion and speculation about an AI Cold War published in research starters, noting its implications for global alliances, data privacy, and ethical considerations in AI deployment. (Source: EBSCO Research Starters)

  2022

• Geopolitical tensions and an arms race in AI technology continue between the United States and China, driven by the development of military AI capabilities and advanced semiconductors. (Source: Wikipedia, Related Documents, Web Search Results)

  Ongoing

• US Export Controls are applied, creating pressure on China to innovate in AI despite its hardware lag. (Source: Related Documents)

  Ongoing

Artificial Intelligence Cold War

The Artificial Intelligence Cold War (AI Cold War) is a narrative in which geopolitical tensions between the United States of America (USA) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) lead to a Second Cold War waged in the area of artificial intelligence technology rather than in the areas of nuclear capabilities or ideology. The context of the AI Cold War narrative is the AI arms race, which involves a build-up of military capabilities using AI technology by the US and China and the usage of increasingly advanced semiconductors which power those capabilities.

Web Search Results

• Artificial Intelligence Cold War | EBSCO Research Starters

  The _artificial intelligence cold war_ refers to rivalries between multiple nations in developing artificial intelligence (AI) to attack and cripple one another. Use of the term _cold war_ is a reference to the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union following World War II. This was an era when both countries engaged in an arms race as a means of deterring the other from attacking. Experts suggest an AI arms race, or development of military uses of AI by the United States, China, [...] The implications of this emerging cold war extend beyond military engagements, affecting global alliances, data privacy, and ethical considerations in AI deployment. As tensions rise, the possibility of AI-driven asymmetric warfare emerges, where conflicts may become lopsided due to the advanced capabilities of one party. This evolving landscape necessitates careful scrutiny of AI's role in warfare and its broader societal impacts. Published in: 2022 By: Campbell, Josephine [...] and Russia, would amount to a second Cold War. Some potential attacks could involve disinformation campaigns or create chaos by targeting critical infrastructure, satellite security, or software supply chains. While a great deal of discussion and speculation about an AI cold war has occurred, it cannot be proven that an AI military race is taking place.

• Artificial Intelligence Cold War - Wikipedia

  Researchers have warned in MIT Technology Review that the breakdown in international collaboration in the area of science because of the threat of the alleged AI Cold War would be detrimental to progress. Additionally, the AI Cold War narrative impacts on many more areas including the planning of supply chains and the proliferation of AI. The dissemination of the AI Cold War narrative could therefore be costly and destructive and exacerbate existing tensions. [...] The AI Cold War heralds a new world order in geopolitics, according to Hemant Taneja and Fareed Zakaria. This new world order is a departure from the unipolar system dominated by the US. It is characterized by existence of two parallel digital ecosystems, ran by China and the US. In order to succeed countries that consider themselves as democracies are to align their technological ecosystems to that of the US, in a process labelled re-globalization. ## See also ## References [...] Joanna Bryson and Helena Malikova have pointed to Big Tech's potential interest in promoting the AI Cold War narrative, as technology companies lobby for less onerous regulation of AI in the US and the EU. A factual assessment of the existing AI capabilities of different countries shows a less binary reality than portrayed by the AI Cold War narrative.

• The New Cold War: Rare Earths, AI, and Strategic Competition with ...

  The DoD has named Trusted AI and Autonomy a vital national security interest that will improve military readiness and limit operational weakness in the face of conflict. AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and the advanced semiconductor chips that power them are essential components in nuclear deterrence, weapons testing, conflict simulations, and submarine design. The AI-powered program Pathfinder has been applied to the North Warning System, enhancing U.S. military’s ability to process [...] The Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive censorship laws and disinformation campaigns have resulted in a proliferation of propaganda and censorship across the global AI data marketplace. AI-powered chatbots in the United States now regurgitate CCP propaganda in Chinese and English when prompted on certain topics, posing significant ramifications for global AI development and U.S. national security. ..Find out more [...] AI Imperative 2030 China is aggressively pursuing AI development using a whole-of-government, industrial collaboration policy. The authoritarian regime in Beijing has closed the gap with the United States in terms of AI capabilities, with an increasingly sophisticated approach to the elimination of barriers between civilian research and commercial sectors and military and defense industrial sectors.​

• AI and the New Digital Cold War - Harvard Business Review

  ## Explore HBR ## Popular Topics ## For Subscribers ## My Account # AI and the New Digital Cold War by Hemant Taneja and Fareed Zakaria ## Summary. [...] Copyright ©2025 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. [...] We are entering a new world order, one marked by increased nationalism and greater geopolitical competition. While countries are not going to undo all of the global economic systems that took shape under American unipolarity for the past three decades, certain critical sectors will become decoupled in a process we have previously referred to as “re-globalization.” ## Partner Center Explore HBR HBR Store About HBR Manage My Account Follow HBR Harvard Business Publishing:

• War, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of Conflict

  is now influencing every area of human life. The past decade has seen a drastic increase in the use of AI, including facial recognition software, self-driving vehicles, search engines, and translation software. These accepted uses of AI in modern society have also coincided with an increased presence of AI in modern warfare. The escalating weaponization of AI parallels the nuclear arms race of the Cold War, with nuclear weapons being replaced with automated weapons systems. However, the