Best Frenemies Forever: Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies, and China–US Strategic Competition

As the United States and China continue their strategic competition fornew and emerging technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and othermachine learning concepts have emerged as key enablers for both commercialand defense applications. This research brief presents AI R&D as a case study to build an analytical framework and sixmodels for understanding interactions between key players in the China–US competition. The models demonstrate the broad range of activities thatChinese planners utilize to pursue strategic objectives in AI and other emergingtechnologies. From domestic R&D to formal espionage, the models contextualize the complex interactions within this competition, providing a framework to forecast and analyze the coming decades of cooperation and conflict.