As artificial intelligence (AI) drives a surge in energy demand in both the United States and China, each country faces choices about how to expand power generation in order to remain at the technological frontier. Washington and Beijing will need to find ways to increase access to energy within an atmosphere of geopolitical competition. The decisions and trade-offs both countries make in sourcing energy to support AI advances will have spillover effects far beyond their borders, shaping global markets, infrastructure, and supply chains. To assess these dynamics, the Global China project convened four authors representing a diversity of viewpoints. In the written exchange below, they wrestle with how energy demand may constrain each country’s AI advances. They also offer diverging views on whether the United States should welcome Chinese investment in American clean energy technology and manufacturing or whether America should wall itself off from Chinese participation in its market. The written exchange centers on the following key questions: How will rising energy demand shape geopolitical competition between the two countries? As China and the United States pursue energy partnerships abroad, which regions are likely to become central to the AI race? Will Beijing leverage its dominance in clean energy technologies to gain a strategic advantage? And should the United States allow Chinese investment in American clean-energy technology and manufacturing—and if so, under what conditions?
How will the United States and China power the AI race? | Brookings
