The United States advantage in artificial intelligence is in question following the recent news that DeepSeek — a small Chinese startup — developed a better, more efficient large language AI model for billions less and in a fraction of the time it took leading American tech companies like Meta and Microsoft to do so themselves.

It’s a stunning development — one that has called into question the assumptions of American AI leaders. But the real issue isn’t just that American companies are falling behind from a technical standpoint, it's that China’s AI ascension was in part enabled by American tech companies building, operating and growing their AI capabilities in the country.

Inadvertent or not, American companies have provided China with everything it needs to gain a competitive advantage.

One American company, for example, Microsoft, has made China its second home for AI development — operating AI research facilities directly in China that helped to make Chinese AI what it is today.

Indeed, Microsoft spent years helping to create China’s AI industry, by, for example, developing AI technologies at its Beijing research lab and

© The Hill