Countries must move beyond seeing AI as a race, where one...

What’s Happening

Okay so When it comes to AI, cooperation between countries can yield greater benefits than working alone.

President Donald Trump just dropped that the U. Would allow Nvidia’s H200 processors to be exported to China, subject to a 25% fee on all sales. (we’re not making this up)

The move has sent ripples through the American establishment, with many (including Senator Elizabeth Warren) charging that Trump is “selling out” national security.

The Details

There is no shortage of such zero-sum or competitive framing when it comes to the global AI space. Indeed, while Anthropic has emphasized AI safety at home, the company’s co-founder and CEO, Dario Amodei, has stoked a narrative of an arms race abroad, arguing that export controls are essential to slow down China’s development and ensure that the U.

Similarly, Chip War author Chris Miller argues that the U. Chip export controls, such as the prohibition on the sale to China of the most advanced GPUs like the NVIDIA H100s, have “cooked … [by] majorly slow[ing] the growth of China’s chipmaking capability”.

Why This Matters

Indeed, Trump himself declared in July that America kicked off the AI race, and it will win it. Such arguments suggest that the two solid powers are engaged in a two-player race—that one of them will win and the other will lose—and that the winner will obtain significant benefits at the expense of the loser. Yet from a rational choice perspective, the “AI race” is a misnomer.

The business implications here could be significant in the coming months.

Key Takeaways

• In the 1955 film, Rebel Without a Cause , Jim Stark (James Dean) races toward a cliff against his nemesis Buzz (Corey Allen).
• If both teenagers drive straight, they both die.
• The one who swerves first loses.

The Bottom Line

The one who swerves first loses. If one driver swerves and the other continues racing to the cliff’s edge, neither can improve his position —we call this a Nash Equilibrium.

What do you think about all this?