London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

China has created tech ‘new world order’ in areas like AI and data collection, says US think tank

China has created tech ‘new world order’ in areas like AI and data collection, says US think tank

China will continue to assert ‘prolific dominance’ in multiple areas this year, according to the Future Today Institute’s 2020 Tech Trends Report. Despite slowing growth in China’s economy, ‘it would be a mistake’ to assume the country has lost its influence, the report says
China has created a “new world order” in technological areas including the development of critical digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI) and data collection, according to an American think tank.

“The growth of China’s economy might be slowing, but it would be a mistake to assume that the People’s Republic of China has lost its influence,” said the Future Today Institute in its 2020 Tech Trends Report released on Monday. “China has a rapidly-expanding middle class, an educated and trained workforce and a government that executes on long-term plans.”

The institute projected that China will continue to assert “prolific dominance” this year, as it races against the US and other countries for global leadership in areas such as AI, bioengineering and space exploration.

In the annual tech trends report, which is in its 13th year, Future Today highlighted China’s global leadership in artificial intelligence, aided by its collection of a surplus of data from citizens.

“If data is the new oil, then China is the new OPEC,” the report stated. “The country’s massive population – nearing 1.4 billion people – offers researchers and start-ups there command of what may be the most valuable natural resource in the future – human data – without the privacy and security restrictions common in much of the rest of the world.”

The kind of rich data the Chinese are mining can be used to train AI to detect patterns used in everything from education and manufacturing to retail and military applications, according to the think tank, which is based in Washington, DC.

This echoes the South China Morning Post’s China AI Report, released last month, which said “a confluence of government encouragement and support, access to vast troves of data, a robust funding environment and entrepreneurial zeal have given China the global lead in AI deployment across various sectors”.

Founded by Amy Webb, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, Future Today researches, models and prototypes future risks and opportunities.

Its report named China’s BAT – tech giants Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings – among the nine big tech companies in the world that “overwhelmingly drive the future of artificial intelligence”. The other firms are all American: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, IBM and Apple.

Those nine companies not only drive most research, funding, government involvement and consumer-grade AI applications in the world, but also “wield huge influence” over funding AI start-ups and pushing mergers and acquisitions in the industry, according to the institute.

In comparison to China – where businesses and the government are collaborating on a sweeping plan to make China the world's primary AI innovation centre by 2030 – the US has numerous initiatives, cells and centres that work independently on the future of AI on behalf of the nation, Future Today said.

These, however, “lack inter-agency collaboration and coordinated efforts” to streamline goals, research and development efforts as well as funding, the institute added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×