As tensions rise between China and the United States, several prominent American companies have been investing in China’s efforts to improve their artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
As reported by Just the News, a report compiled by a research team at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology reveals that, between 2015 and 2021, at least 167 American investors performed over 400 investment transactions regarding Chinese AI companies; this amount represents 17 percent of the global total of 2,299 companies.
Some of the most prominent investors include semiconductor giants Intel and Qualcomm, which each made 11 and 13 major investments, respectively. The largest investor was the global venture capital firm GGV Capital, with 43 investments in the Chinese AI sector.
“Collectively, observed transactions involving U.S. investors totaled $40.2 billion invested into 251 Chinese AI companies,” the report details, which accounts for “37 percent of the $110 billion raised by all Chinese AI companies.”
Former FBI crisis manager Jim DiOrio has warned that the United States “must maintain vigilance and win the battle being fought in global cyberspace — it is the battlefield of the future,” adding that “quantum computing and AI should be viewed as the new space race.”
Such a threat assessment regarding China has also extended to the government, with General Mike Minihan, head of U.S. Air Mobility Command (AMC), saying in a recently-leaked memo that he believes the U.S. will be at war with China within the next two years, with the island nation of Taiwan serving as the most likely catalyst.
“I hope I am wrong,” the four-star general said in the memo, nevertheless adding that it was his personal belief that “we will fight in 2025.”
Tensions have risen between the two superpowers in recent days after a Chinese spy balloon was discovered floating over the continental U.S., first spotted in Montana before continuing to float east. After widespread criticism of the Biden Administration for its failure to respond and initial refusal to take action, the military finally shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday. As a result of the fiasco, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indefinitely postponed a planned trip to China.