China narrows gap on US in AI arms race as Australia stands idle

Paul SmithTechnology editor

Updated Jan 28, 2025 – 8.49am, first published at Jan 24, 2025 – 5.30pm

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As the world waited for Donald Trump to unleash a trade war on China after his inauguration, it was a $US500 billion ($792 billion) artificial intelligence scheme called Stargate that demonstrated where the digital battleground will be contested.

The AI war is being fought on two fronts: infrastructure capacity and the level of sophistication of the AI models built. The US has been leading in both, but the symbolic importance given to Stargate by its presidential announcement comes as China is catching up fast.

Paul Smith edits the technology coverage and has been a leading writer on the sector for 20 years. He covers big tech, business use of tech, the fast-growing Australian tech industry and start-ups, telecommunications and national innovation policy.