China's AI Models Are Closing the Gap—but America's Real Advantage Lies Elsewhere | RAND
The United States has an advantage over China in total compute capacity. If used strategically, this could drive economic transformation, secure technological leadership, and shape the global AI ecosystem. U.S. policymakers risk squandering this edge by focusing on the wrong metrics and overreacting to predictable Chinese advancements.
China's AI Models Are Closing the Gap—but America's Real Advantage Lies Elsewhere Commentary May 2, 2025 Photo by William_Potter/Getty Images By Lennart Heim This commentary was originally published by ChinaTalk on April 29, 2025. China will likely match U.S. AI model capabilities this year, triggering inevitable concerns about America's technological edge. However, this snapshot comparison misses the bigger picture. While Chinese models close the gap on benchmarks, the United States maintains an advantage in total compute capacity-owning far more, and more advanced, AI chips. This compute adv
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