HOW THE U.S. CAN LEAD

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the world. Who controls the reshaping and under what conditions-remains far from settled.

- BY ERIC SCHMIDT

The past year has made clear that the race ahead is actually multiple overlapping contests unfolding at once.

The first is between the U.S. and China. American frontier labs continue to lead the push toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), Investing extraordinary sums to build systems that could equal or surpass human cognition. The stakes are immense: AGI could shift the global balance of power and generate unprecedented economic growth.

China, however, is pursuing a different path and believes that widespread AI adoption will deliver the greatest gains.

Its Al+ initiative targets 90% integration across key sectors by 2030, with a particular focus on Al-enabled manufacturing.