Nina Xiang was featured in a special program by CGTN America, discussing the evolving dynamics of artificial intelligence development between the United States and China.
In the interview, filmed alongside her participation at the Asia Society’s Future U.S.–China Conference in San Francisco, Nina Xiang shared perspectives on the shifting balance between competition and cooperation in the global AI landscape.
She highlighted growing anxiety in the U.S. around China’s rapid technological advancement, particularly following recent breakthroughs that challenged prior assumptions about the pace and structure of China’s innovation ecosystem. Drawing on her earlier work, including Red AI, she reflected on how pockets of highly focused innovation—rather than system-wide openness—are driving China’s progress in AI.
At the same time, she emphasized that despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and partial decoupling, deep interdependence between the two economies remains. From retail and manufacturing to research and selected areas of technology, collaboration continues in ways that are often overlooked in public discourse.
Looking ahead, Nina Xiang outlined a likely divergence in AI development paths: the United States leading in foundational research and model innovation, while China focuses on large-scale application and deployment across industries such as healthcare, education, and productivity.
She also framed U.S.–China technology relations in pragmatic terms, arguing that the outcome is unlikely to be a simple “win-lose” scenario. Instead, the trajectory points toward a mix of competition, negotiation, and selective collaboration—what she described as a spectrum ranging from “green zones” of cooperation to “red zones” defined by national security constraints.