The Myth of the AI Race, With Alvin Wang Graylin

This episode unpacks U.S. and Chinese AI strategies, regulation approaches, and the future implications for society and security.

Host:

James M. Lindsay, Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR

Guest:

Alvin Wang Graylin, Senior Fellow for Technology, Asia Society; Digital Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence; Professor of AI/Tech Policy, University of Washington

We Discuss:

Whether the framing of an AI "race" with China is accurate or helpful, and why it may be producing costly policy distortions.

The concept of AGI (artificial general intelligence) and the thesis that underpins U.S. policy.

China's focus on broad industrial adoption over frontier model development.

How U.S. export controls and visa restrictions spurred the innovations behind DeepSeek.

Why China turned down the offer to purchase NVIDIA H200 chips.

Why Beijing regulates AI more extensively than either the United States or Europe.