Cuban: US must boost AI research to lead China race
The United States must aggressively pursue sustained investment in artificial intelligence research if it hopes to maintain its global leadership against a rapidly advancing China, according to billionaire investor Mark Cuban. Speaking recently, Cuban emphasized that “the quality and depth of the research we do in this country can help us stay ahead of China and other countries in the AI race,” underscoring AI’s pivotal role in defining future military and economic power.
While the U.S. currently holds a quantitative lead in AI, boasting 40 notable AI models in 2024 compared to China’s 15, the qualitative gap is swiftly narrowing. Experts like Gregory Allen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies warn that China is “moving incredibly quickly and could absolutely catch up if the United States falls off its game.” Indeed, White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks recently indicated that the U.S. might be only “three to six months ahead of China at the AI model layer.” Chinese companies are demonstrating significant progress, with models like DeepSeek’s V3 requiring a tenth of the computing power of American counterparts and Moonshot AI’s Kimi K2 outperforming leading U.S. models in coding at a fraction of the cost. This rapid advancement highlights the critical importance of foundational scientific research, which is increasingly seen as more impactful for AI specialization than merely refining existing technologies.
Cuban’s concerns extend to the strategic shift he observes in the AI landscape, where companies are increasingly focused on “locking up” valuable intellectual property and expertise rather than engaging in open research sharing. This intensified competition for proprietary innovations necessitates robust domestic investment. In response, the U.S. government has ramped up its commitment, with federal AI R&D funding projected at $3.316 billion for Fiscal Year 2025. The Department of Defense, recognizing AI’s military implications, has been a particularly significant driver of this spending, with AI-related federal contracts surging by nearly 1,200% from August 2022 to August 2023, reaching $4.6 billion. Beyond public funds, private sector investment in the U.S. remains substantial, reaching $109.1 billion in 2024, dwarfing China’s $9.3 billion.
Both the U.S. and China have recently unveiled comprehensive national AI action plans, reflecting their determination to secure global leadership. The U.S. strategy focuses on accelerating innovation, building domestic AI infrastructure, and leading international diplomacy, while China’s plan emphasizes global governance and setting international standards. Despite the U.S. advantage in overall computing capacity and advanced semiconductor technology, China’s efforts to overcome export controls and develop its own chip capabilities, as seen with Huawei’s Ascend series, underscore the dynamic nature of this technological rivalry. The consensus among experts is that sustained investment in cutting-edge research is paramount for the U.S. to not only maintain but extend its competitive edge in this transformative field, ensuring its long-term economic prosperity and national security.