New report warns of growing national security threat to U.S. as China builds AI: ‘Significant and concerning’

FIRST ON FOX: A pro-tech advocacy group has released a new report warning of the growing threat posed by China’s artificial intelligence technology and its open-source approach that could threaten the national and economic security of the United States.

The report, published by American Edge Project, states that “China is rapidly advancing its own open-source ecosystem as an alternative to American technology and using it as a Trojan horse to implant its CCP values into global infrastructure.”

“Their progress is both significant and concerning: Chinese-developed open-source AI tools are already outperforming Western models on key benchmarks, while operating at dramatically lower costs, accelerating global adoption. Through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which spans more than 155 countries on four continents, and its Digital Silk Road (DSR), China is exporting its technology worldwide, fostering increased global dependence, undermining democratic norms, and threatening U.S. leadership and global security.”

The report outlines how Chinese AI models censor historical events that could paint China in a bad light, deny or minimize human rights abuses, and filter criticism of Chinese political leaders.

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China’s President Xi Jinping attends a meeting with Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 20, 2024.  (REUTERS/Adriano Machado)

“China is executing an ambitious $1.4 trillion plan to dominate global technology by 2030, with open-source systems as the cornerstone of its AI strategy,” the report states. “While many Western companies focus on paid, proprietary AI models, China is aggressively promoting free and low-cost alternatives to drive rapid global adoption.”

The report continues, “By making much of its AI technology freely accessible, Beijing aims to ensure its systems and standards become embedded in the world’s financial, manufacturing and communications backbone. Through coordinated action between government and industry, China is working to reshape the global technology landscape while programming CCP values and control mechanisms into critical systems worldwide.”

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The report explains that China is “racing” to deploy AI while the United States is bogged down on prioritizing AI regulation.

“While American and European governments focus on regulating AI, China is aggressively pushing its AI systems into global markets,” the report states, adding that, “This playbook mirrors China’s successful strategy with 5G technology, where Huawei gained dominant market share through aggressive pricing and rapid deployment before Western nations could respond effectively. Now in AI, one Chinese firm alone, Alibaba Cloud, has released over 100 open-source models in 29 different languages, flooding global markets while Western companies must navigate increasingly complex regulatory requirements.”

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China’s President Xi Jinping talks after joining a group photo during the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.  (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

The report lays out the differences between China and U.S. AI model responses and provides policy recommendations to “preserve U.S. AI leadership,” which includes seizing the “historic opportunity to secure lasting American AI leadership” and avoiding “unilateral restrictions on exporting and access to U.S. AI systems.

“If America loses the global race to dominate both open-source and closed-source AI technology, authoritarian Chinese systems will write the future, and Washington policymakers can’t let that happen,” Doug Kelly, CEO of the American Edge Project, told Fox News Digital. 

The report concludes that “the implications of Chinese leadership in global AI development are profound.”

“A world of unchecked, Beijing-built AI ecosystems would be a major blow to the U.S. and to humanity writ large,” the Center for New American Security says in the report. “If Chinese AI goes global, so too will brazen non-compliance with international agreements on the technology.”