Alice Han and James Kynge’s China Decode newsletter makes a case that most coverage of the AI race gets wrong. The real contest is physical, and China is already ahead:
I’ve long believed the AI race extends well beyond generative AI and large language models. That’s certainly the way China sees it. While the private sector in the U.S. spends 12 times as much on computing power, China spends 42% more on robotics, a gap that’s only going to widen. Where AI and robotics intersect, China has an edge.
China now produces roughly 90% of the world’s humanoid robots. At the same time, China’s NDRC has flagged a domestic bubble. More than 150 robotics makers are active, most operating at Level 0 or 1, running scripted actions or teleoperated demos.
Both things are true. A structural lead built on factories that can repoint to robotics, and a manufacturing culture built for scale, does not require every startup to survive.
