Welcome to another edition of AI for the Rest of Us.

The headlines and TV segments about the US-China AI competition have been impossible to ignore lately. With so much hype and exaggerated coverage on all sides, I wanted to help make sense of what’s actually happening and what the rest of us need to know.

So in this edition, we’re digging into the rivalry that’s (re)shaping our digital future. Beyond just comparing AI models, we’ll explore the broader strategic approaches, look at China’s proven playbook for dominating emerging technologies, and consider what this competition means for innovation, safety, and global influence.

Whether you’re concerned about economic impacts or curious about this arms race and what it means, I hope this breakdown gives you clearer perspective – and some talking points at your next cocktail party 🍻.

Here we go...

– Kyser

P.S. If you’re a new member and new to AI, I highly recommend you read Editions #2 and #3 - both of which answer the question, “What the heck is AI, anyway?”

The Surprising Speed of China’s AI Ascent
Let’s start with where things stand right now: just four months ago, most experts were saying China was about six plus months behind the US in AI development. Fast forward to today, and that gap has shrunk dramatically. China is now nearly neck-and-neck with us, as shown in recent benchmark tests – which is a fancy way of measuring how intelligent these intelligence machines are.

Chinese companies like DeepSeek have gotten a ton of attention lately, and for good reason – they’ve released two impressive products that even surprised the AI insiders. When they released their latest model in early 2025, it scored impressively close to top US models – something Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei called “a matter of geopolitical concern,” though he pushed back on some of their claims, most notably that they weren’t being truthful about how much it cost them to build. Which he’s most likely right about.

Another interesting data point is the monthly active user numbers for Chinese AI apps.

These clearly aren’t small experiments – they’re mainstream products serving a massive domestic market, giving these companies invaluable real-world data and feedback loops.

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It’s Play Time

Newcomers [AI is new to me]

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Explorers [I’m comfortable with AI]

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And that wraps up another edition of AI for the Rest of Us. We hope you enjoyed this one. If you ever have any questions or feedback for us, you know where to find me.

Until next time (and on Instagram between then)...