This weekend, thousands of entrepreneurs, government officials and investors will be in Shanghai at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), at which the intersections of technology and geopolitics will come into dangerous focus. The new AI Action Plan by U.S. President Donald Trump and the recent emergence of DeepSeek, China on the rise, is dimming the discussions that accuse both nations of the unraveling race to declare control on artificial intelligence as a global leader. As China attempts to jumpstart the U.S. by means of advancement and government support, the U.S. is stabilizing its leadership in AI by means of policy and infrastructure shifts. All these ambitions are leading to a new period of international AI competition.
DeepSeek in the light as the U.S.-China AI competition intensifies
DeepSeek is not included in the official program, but it is likely to be one of the major topics at WAIC. This Chinese AI company and its mysterious CEO Liang Wenfeng shocked the technical world this year with the release of a cheap high-performance device that exceeded everybody expectations and undermined the Silicon Valley model of consuming resources. The model created a cheering rush of innovative enthusiasm across the country with startups and established industry players alike bringing their entrepreneurial efforts to high gear.DeepSeek is the first of the AI innovation revolution in China and, according to AI investor Louis Liang of Ameba Capital, it is just an onset. Liang pointed out that the drive goes beyond country competition and this is the start of the mass use in China.
This weekend, thousands of entrepreneurs, governmental officials, investors will be in Shanghai at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) where the areas of technology and geopolitics will be lethally brought into sharp relief. The new U.S president Donald Trump AI Action Plan and the recent rise of DeepSeek, China are clouding the debates that blame both countries of the unfolding race to proclaim the domination of artificial intelligence as a world powerhouse. According to how the current generation of China is trying to revive the U.S with the help of advancement and government backing, the U.S is also settling its leadership position in the field of AI, in terms of policy and infrastructure change. All these aspirations are resulting into a new era of international AI competition.
The quest of DeepSeek in the light of the battle of U.S- China in the field of AI
DeepSeek is not in the program, but it is probably going to be one of the main subjects at WAIC. This Chinese AI-business and its elusive CEO Liang Wenfeng rattled the technical world this year when it announced a low-cost high-performance machine that surpassed the expectations of everybody and challenged the Silicon Valley resource consumption paradigm. The model led to the innovative jubilation rush in the country where the startups and the existing players in the industry all put their entrepreneurial activities into high gear.DeepSeek is the first of the AI innovation revolution in China and, in the view of the AI investor, Louis Liang of Ameba Capital, this is only the beginning. Liang also mentioned the point that the motivation does not stop at nation competition and this is when the mass use is beginning in China.
According to Morgan Stanley analyst Sheng Zhong: this year, companies are aiming at deliveries in the hundreds, even thousands of units and eventually, the aim is to establish a thriving ecosystem. Dealmaking is also turning to be a high-stakes place at WAIC. Big venture capital companies in China are mounting above 2 billion dollars in dollar-based funds which targets foreign investors. The volume is the biggest wave of fundraising since the crackdowns on regulation in China and stagnation in the pandemic. The leading ones include Lightspeed China Partners and Monolith Management. This mammoth 70,000-square meter exhibition floor will be occupied by hundreds of demo startup, to entice global capital, including drone deliveries to novelty tech such as a toilet paper dispensing machine.
China takes the world AI spotlight as American companies stand aside
As china continues to go ahead on every front, the U.S. companies seem to be missing in this year forum. Besides the speaker list, which unlike 2024 is devoid of high-profile American CEOs with Tesla attracting the cognizance with its Cybertruck and Optimus robot, there is no difference at the summit. Missing is Elon Musk, who will still be at the conference, but significant AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio will appear. The lack of U.S. firms accentuates the shift underway through new caution due to geopolitical tensions. Nevertheless, WAIC remains as the global platform where Beijing can claim to rule the AI governance and policy.
Among the most discussed activities will be a meeting titled “High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance” during which Chinese authorities will allegedly pitch global norms that suit the interests of Beijing. Tom Nunlist, a consultancy Trivium, observed that since 2018, China has been utilizing WAIC as a tool to monopolize the technical and political leadership in AI. As the U.S inches closer to China in the race, he claimed, that is a play that is more convincing than ever.
The timeline of AI in Beijing has become more pressuring as a result of the urgency that Trump has added
The recent executive orders of Trump are bound to speed up this international contest. The administration is preparing the way to scale the American development of AI by relaxing regulatory controls in the U.S., and advancing energy improvements to support AI-related data centers. These actions combined with the AI Action Plan were scheduled to convey one message: the U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence is not something up for negotiation.
Onlookers feel that the Trump approach may induce China to internationalize its AI platforms in a more vigorous way. Beijing will tend to address this by means of increasing the open-sourcing of its models and disseminating its global technology influence. The AI hype is still on in Shanghai. With all the talk of the next DeepSeek R2 release and the showcase of the humanoid robots in China, the talk thread symbolizes a greater story stating that the U.S. is no longer the only nation watched in terms of artificial intelligence breakthroughs.
A change of power over AI is portrayed in the Shanghai summit
The 2021 WAIC is a shifting point in the development, deployment and regulation of artificial intelligence. The confrontation between the U.S. and China is not hypothetical anymore; it is a real-time event, it is about different models, policies and visions of the future of AI. The AI race is picking up speed in the expressive statements of the White House or the tacit genius of startups such as DeepSeek. It is inevitable that the two sides see their fortunes being reversed as the forces of investors, innovators, and policymakers flock Shanghai so that they can control the dominance in the era of intelligent machines.
