“US warns of China’s AI advancements and national security implications.”
The Pentagon, in a recent report to Congress, has issued a warning about China’s aggressive pursuit of dominance in the field of artificial intelligence, driven by their intentions to exploit weaknesses in potential adversaries and promote the concept of “intelligentized warfare.”
The Department of Defense, in its annual report on China’s military capabilities, acknowledges China’s global leadership in AI technology. Their ambitious goal is to surpass Western nations in AI research and development by 2025, ultimately aiming to become the world leader in AI by 2030. This recognition underscores China’s prioritization of AI as a national-level science and technology development area, considering AI and autonomy advancements crucial to their vision of intelligentized warfare.
This warning from the U.S. government isn’t the first of its kind. Lakshmi Raman, the CIA’s director for artificial intelligence, expressed concerns at a recent summit, highlighting the agency’s vigilance regarding China’s AI program and its potential applications.
Moreover, the Department of Homeland Security’s threat assessment acknowledges the proliferation of accessible AI tools that can bolster adversaries’ tactics. Nation-states seeking to undermine trust in government institutions and democratic processes use AI for more convincing misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation campaigns. Cyber actors employ AI to develop new tools, enhancing their capacity for compromising targets and executing larger, faster, and more elusive cyber attacks.
The Pentagon’s report delves even further, revealing that the Chinese communist regime has already established research centers and obtained commercially-developed AI and robotic technology. This technology has provided the People’s Liberation Army with access to cutting-edge AI technologies, making them world leaders in specific AI applications such as facial recognition and natural language processing. Chinese companies are actively marketing domestically-designed AI chips, showcasing their progress and ambitions.
While China still depends on foreign capabilities for certain AI hardware, the report notes that Chinese researchers are continuously exploring new materials and design concepts for next-generation semiconductors, indicating their intent to reduce reliance on foreign resources.
The report also brings to light a concept discussed by the People’s Liberation Army in 2021, termed “Multi-Domain Precision Warfare.” This concept aims to harness a network incorporating AI and data advancements to identify key vulnerabilities in the U.S. operational system. Subsequently, it proposes combining joint forces across different domains to launch precision strikes against these vulnerabilities, highlighting the strategic implications of China’s AI advancements.
In response to these concerns, the United States is taking steps to limit China’s technological edge, including tightening export regulations on advanced AI chips to Beijing. These actions reflect the growing significance of AI in the realm of global geopolitics and national security.
