Falling Behind the United States, China's Armed Forces Make Calculated Investments in Artificial Intelligence

Summary

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is steadily integrating artificial intelligence across multiple military domains, including naval defense systems, drone swarm operations, space, and cyberspace, as part of its broader strategy to develop "intelligentized warfare." However, analysts caution that China is being deliberately selective in its AI investments rather than pursuing immediate technological parity with the United States, which currently holds a commanding lead with over 4,000 data centers compared to China's roughly 400, bolstered further by U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors. A significant structural challenge for the PLA is the tension between the decentralized decision-making that effective AI-enabled operations require and China's deeply embedded culture of centralized military command, alongside a lack of real operational data accumulated through decades of combat experience. Despite these broader gaps, some analysts suggest China may have actually surpassed the United States in the specific area of AI-driven drone swarm technology, particularly with the addition of drone carriers already in active service. Political concerns also constrain China's AI development, as government officials fear that unrestricted AI-generated data could conflict with Communist Party ideology and undermine the leadership's control.