Opinion

China is building an AI war machine. Washington must wake up before it’s too late

The contest between Washington and Beijing has moved beyond software into chips, energy, and data centers

By Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, (ret.) Fox News

Published June 26, 2026 5:00am EDT

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Bret Baier explains how the US-China competition has evolved over time

Fox News anchor Bret Baier describes U.S.-China competition on technology, military strength, space and more on ‘Special Report.’

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On June 24, OpenAI unveiled its first custom-built inference chip, developed with Broadcom and known internally as "Jalapeño." Most Americans will never see it. Yet Beijing certainly noticed. The announcement signals that the contest between America and China has moved beyond software and chatbots into a struggle for control of the infrastructure that will shape economic, military, and technological power in the twenty-first century.

The nations that control the chips, data centers, electricity, and networks behind advanced computing systems may shape the global balance of power for decades to come. That reality should concern every American.

While Washington debates inflation, immigration, and the latest foreign crisis, a new Cold War is accelerating beneath the surface. Unlike the last one, this competition is not primarily about nuclear weapons, tanks, or ideology. It is about machine intelligence.

AI TECHNOLOGY RACE IS NEW 'COLD WAR' BETWEEN US AND CHINA THAT COULD HAVE DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES: REPORT

Most Americans treat advanced computing systems as consumer conveniences, useful for answering questions or drafting emails. China does not. Beijing treats those same systems as instruments of national power, capable of reshaping military effectiveness, economic output, industrial competitiveness, and global influence.

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Recent developments reveal how rapidly this competition is evolving. Chinese computing firm DeepSeek is seeking roughly seven billion dollars in new investment, a signal of Beijing’s determination to build frontier computing capabilities independent of American technology. Huawei continues expanding its domestic semiconductor ecosystem for advanced computing applications. China’s military is rapidly fielding........

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