China is winning one AI race, the US another – but either might pull ahead (bbc.com)

• China emphasizes industrial and surveillance-based AI scale.
• US maintains lead in foundational LLM research.
• Supply chain dependencies on chips remain a decisive factor.

"The global AI landscape is diverging into two distinct competitive domains. China is capitalizing on state-directed data integration to lead in industrial application and predictive surveillance, while the US maintains superiority in foundational generative AI models and hardware innovation. This bifurcation creates significant risks for European digital autonomy, as global technology standards risk fracturing between two incommensurable ecosystems. Success for either superpower is no longer guaranteed, as access to high-end semiconductor supply chains and differing regulatory frameworks act as critical bottlenecks for future development. The winner will be determined by whoever secures the most efficient compute-to-application ratio within their respective geopolitical spheres."