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. The Trump-Xi discussions on AI safety guardrails and the shared interest in preventing non-state bad actors from weaponizing AI. The economic bubble risk posed by rapidly rising data center costs.   Mentioned on the Episode:   China's "AI Plus" Initiative, State Council of China, August 2025   China's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, State Council of China, 2017   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The President’s Inbox at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/presidents-inbox/the-myth-of-the-ai-race   Opinions expressed on The President’s Inbox are solely those of the host or guests, not of CFR, which takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.