‘Very worried about China’, says OpenAI CEO Sam Altman with a warning for America and the new ‘China-Safe’ chips policy

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued a stark warning that America may be underestimating the complexity and seriousness of China’s advancements in artificial intelligence. During a rare on-the-record briefing with a small group of reporters, Altman said that relying on export controls alone is likely not a reliable solution to the geopolitical AI race. “I’m worried about China,” Altman stated, speaking over Mediterranean tapas in San Francisco’s Presidio, last week. According to a report in CNBC, he emphasized that the US–China AI race is deeply entangled, encompassing more than just who is ahead on a simple scoreboard.

Altman detailed the various layers of the AI landscape, including inference capacity, research, and product development.