SCMP: Rise of Chinese AI and Quantum Computing Threatens American Military Tech

(SouthChinaMorningPost) China is the United States’ strongest competitor in cutting edge military technologies such as artificial intelligence
and quantum computing according to a US report.
The report – “Emerging Military Technologies: Background and Issues for Congress” by the US Congressional Research Service – said the US was the leader in developing many of the advanced technologies. However, China and Russia were making steady progress in this area.
“China is widely viewed as the United States’ closest competitor in the international AI market … Recent Chinese achievements in the field demonstrate China’s potential to realise its goals for AI development … Such technologies could be used to counter espionage and aid military targeting,” said the report, which was released in early August.
“China has increasingly prioritised quantum technology research within its development plans … China is already a world leader in quantum technology,” the report said.
China’s technological innovation contributed nearly 60 per cent to the nation’s economic growth last year, according to the science ministry.
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the days of China lagging well behind the US in military technology were long gone.
“In many areas they [China] are equivalent, and in some areas, they are surpassing the US, such as hypersonics, AI and quantum tech. They have established an extensive network of defence technology centres that feed the PLA’s capability development towards being an ‘informatised’ and ‘intelligentised’ military for the 21st century,” he said.