In 2023, the United States (US) imposed sweeping export controls to restrict China’s access to advanced AI chips. Months later, China accelerated domestic semiconductor investment at a scale reminiscent of Cold War industrial policy and tightened controls over gallium and germanium – minerals essential to chip production.Meanwhile, generative AI systems began drafting legal briefs, diagnosing cancers, writing production-grade code, and shaping political narratives across democracies and autocracies alike.advertisementRead Full StoryEvery epoch in human history has had its equation of power. For the maritime empires of the 18th century, it was a simple function: hulls multiplied by cannons, projected across sea…