The contest to stay on the leading edge of AI is rapidly taking center stage in America’s strategic competition with China. But what does it actually mean to beat China in AI? Does the United States have the right strategy for navigating this contest? Are policymakers overstating the threats posed by China, or by artificial intelligence itself? And can Washington and Beijing cooperate on areas of high risk even as they compete intensely elsewhere?

In this episode of Pivotal States, Christopher S. Chivvis speaks with Colin H. Kahl, Director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Biden administration, to unpack the peril and the promise of U.S.–China competition in AI.