China sees red as Biden plots to deprive it of AI investment

Image credit : slate.com The Biden administration's proposal to direct investment in artificial intelligence away from China and towards other nations has angered China, which has warned that it may take action to retaliate for what it terms American "bullying" in the tech industry. In order to assist the United States preserve its competitive edge, the administration has been teasing for months that it is creating an executive order to keep investments in AI and other technology-related fields, such as semiconductors and quantum computing, out of China. According to a number of reports, the administration may plan to introduce the concept at the Group of Seven conference in Japan in the middle of May. [caption id="attachment_151663" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image credit : Techopedia[/caption] However, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that China is "firmly opposed" to this concept and charged the United States with employing "economic coercion" to advance its "selfish interests." "The true intention of the U.S. is to take away the right to development from China and maintain U.S. supremacy for its selfish interests," he said. "Such blatant act of economic coercion and sci-tech bullying is against the principles of market economy and fair competition, undermines the international economic and trading order, disrupts and destabilizes global industrial and supply chains and hurts the interests of the whole world." He warned that China would "firmly safeguard our rights and interests" on this issue but did not say how. The spokesperson also accused the U.S. of using trade as a "tool and weapon in the name of national security." On Monday, the White House declined to comment on the specifics of the executive order's operation or if it would be prepared in time for the G7 summit in Japan. The White House likewise chose not to address China's derogatory remarks. However, it is obvious that any G7 initiative to restrict high-tech investment in China will exacerbate already-existing hostilities between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping of China. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are concerned about keeping the U.S. military competitive with China's and being able to support Taiwan's defense as certain U.S. policymakers publicly predict that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan will occur soon. And earlier this year, the United States fired down a surveillance balloon in American airspace that China maintains was an unmanned aircraft used to gather weather data. Also read : If AI is dangerous, Biden thinks it “remains to be seen.” Regarding AI, many experts are growing more concerned that China may develop an AI system that reflects the fundamental principles of the Communist Chinese Party, such as an AI chat program that refrains from spitting forth comments that are critical of the party. In a Senate hearing last week, technology experts stated that the ideal result would be a "democratic" AI norm. "China has already said that these generative models must display socialist characteristics," said Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer and executive vice president of Palantir. "It must not enable the overthrow of the state. These sorts of constraints that are being baked in, to the extent that that becomes the standard AI for the world, is highly problematic."