From batteries and solar panels to drones and satellites, China is building tech capabilities that extend well beyond AI, writes Steve Feldstein in his new book, "Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Big Tech, and the New Shape of Modern Warfare."
There’s much more to it than that. If you invent a brilliant new thing that everyone will want… how are you going to make it at scale, at a price people will pay for it? The cheapest, quickest, most efficient way by far would be to make it in China.
Sure, maybe you could build the factory and distribution networks in the west, and maybe persuade investors to let you do that, but China will imitate and undercut you astonishing quickly.
There’s much more to it than that. If you invent a brilliant new thing that everyone will want… how are you going to make it at scale, at a price people will pay for it? The cheapest, quickest, most efficient way by far would be to make it in China. Sure, maybe you could build the factory and distribution networks in the west, and maybe persuade investors to let you do that, but China will imitate and undercut you astonishing quickly.