The United States maintains an advantage over China in the race for artificial intelligence (AI)especially in advanced chips, models and marketingaccording to the strategic analysis released by Goldman Sachs. The thesis, also defended by its president of global affairs Jared Cohen In an article published in Time Magazinequalifies the geopolitical debate: there is not a single AI race, but rather multiple fronts where both blocks compete with different priorities.
Cohen argues that the American ecosystem leads the development of critical hardware and of frontier AI modelsa domain that could expand as advances in microchips improve systems performance. Added to this is the scale of investment: Goldman Sachs estimates that Chinese technology companies They will allocate about $70 billion to AI next yeara relevant figure but clearly lower than the volume projected in the US.
Structural limits
American leadership is not without friction. The growth of the data centers is sharply increasing electricity demand, which, according to Goldman Sachs, “exposes bottlenecks in energy generation, transmission and infrastructure“The regulatory slowness at the state and local level is already pushing investors to explore projects in regions with greater energy availability, such as Middle East.
In parallel, China compete with a different strategy. Its focus is not so much on achieving the so-called general artificial intelligence, but rather on accelerating industrial diffusion: autonomous vehicles, IoT (internet of things), robotics y consumer applications. This approach prioritizes scale and adoption, supported by a more centralized political system.
A fragile global supply chain
The report highlights that artificial intelligence depends on global supply chains where no country is self-sufficient. US restrictions on the export of chip software have put pressure on the Chinese sector, but Beijing retains an advantage in critical minerals. Furthermore, friction points evolve: advanced memory y infrastructure cloud They emerge as new strategic necks.
This technological pulse is already reflected in the markets. After several years in which AI drove a good part of the increases in S&P 500analysts from the firm observe greater investment selectivity and doubts about which business models will resist automation. The debate begins to turn from enthusiasm for growth towards evaluation of winners and losers.
Goldman Sachs is clear: the American advantage exists, but it is not definitive. Energy, regulation and industrial architecture They will be as decisive as talent or algorithms in the next phase of the global race for artificial intelligence.
