Published on: April 18, 2025 / Updated on: April 18, 2025 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
AI Dominance: A global race for technological leadership in key sectors – Image: Xpert.Digital
"Artificial Intelligence: The Global Battle for Technological Supremacy"
The strategic importance of AI for nations and companies
Artificial intelligence is evolving at breathtaking speed into a decisive factor in virtually all areas of the economy and society. The latest developments show how nations and companies worldwide are vying for dominance in this transformative technology, while simultaneously seeking to harness its potential in fields such as education, finance, defense, and science. Leadership in AI technology is increasingly seen as crucial for national security, economic strength, and global influence, leading to intense competition and strategic action.
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China's offensive AI strategy in the education sector
China is aggressively pursuing the integration of AI into its education system to prepare the next generation for the digital age. A recently published guideline underscores the strategic importance of artificial intelligence for the country's educational reform, focusing on fostering critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and practical abilities.
The Chinese Ministry of Education, along with eight other ministries, has released a comprehensive guideline on accelerating the digitalization of education. This guideline emphasizes the development of an AI-based education system that integrates intelligent technologies into all areas of teaching, learning, assessment, and academic research. Zhou Dawang, head of the ministry's Department of Science, Technology, and Informatization, stated that the guideline calls for a comprehensive update of disciplines, curricula, and talent development to meet the demands of the digital economy.
Particularly noteworthy is China's approach of integrating AI education into primary and secondary schools. The country has selected 184 pilot schools to explore philosophies, models, and programs in the field of AI education. Students are expected to gain hands-on experience with AI technologies from their early primary school years, while in higher grades they will explore increasingly complex applications and develop their own AI projects. Education Minister Huai Jinpeng describes AI applications as a "golden key" to the education system and emphasizes their potential to shape the future of education.
AI as a growth engine in global financial markets
The importance of AI is increasingly reflected in the development of financial markets, where AI-based stocks are among the most sought-after investments. Analysts predict enormous growth in the AI sector for 2025 and beyond, which will fundamentally transform numerous sectors of the economy.
Innovation cycles in AI development are becoming ever shorter: In the first few months of 2025 alone, several groundbreaking models caused a stir. The Chinese startup DeepSeek introduced its R1 model in January, which Elon Musk's company xAI countered in February with Grok 3. The next innovation step is already on the horizon with Manus AI from the Beijing-based startup Monica, which aims to take human-machine collaboration to a new level.
Investors are increasingly focusing on companies that either directly develop AI technologies or significantly benefit from their use. AI is rapidly gaining importance, particularly in data-intensive and automatable sectors such as industrial production, healthcare, customer service, finance, and human resources. This development has led to a remarkable increase in the value of AI-related stocks, with some leading companies gaining more than 25 percent in the past 12 months.
Technological competition: Alphabet challenges Nvidia's dominance
At the heart of the technological race for AI supremacy lies the market for specialized, high-performance chips, currently dominated by Nvidia. With an estimated 80 percent market share in the global AI chip market, Nvidia has amassed impressive market power. This dominance is based on NVIDIA GPUs (Graphical Processing Units), which are particularly well-suited for the computationally intensive processes in the field of artificial intelligence.
But the competition is mounting: Google's parent company, Alphabet, unveiled its latest generation of in-house processors, the so-called Axion chips, at its Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas. These chips are specifically designed for use in data centers. They are intended to support Google's core services, such as its search engine and AI-related applications, and according to the manufacturer, offer 30 percent higher performance than general Arm chips and 50 percent more performance than current x86 chips from other manufacturers.
This approach aligns with similar efforts by other tech giants: Given a projected AI market volume of up to $500 billion in the next three to five years, Amazon and Microsoft are now also working on their own processors for AI applications. The competition for technological leadership is thus intensifying considerably.
Revolutionary advances: AI-controlled drones surpass human capabilities
A remarkable breakthrough in the practical application of AI technologies recently occurred in the field of autonomous flight systems: An AI-controlled drone developed by Delft University of Technology has, for the first time, defeated top human pilots in an international competition. On April 14, 2025, the autonomous drone outperformed three former Drone Champions League (DCL) world champions on a challenging course as part of the A2RL Drone Championship and the Falcon Cup Finals.
The winning drone reached speeds of up to 95.8 km/h and navigated a complex course with numerous obstacles. Technologically, the system is based on developments from the European Space Agency (ESA), whose guidance and control technology was originally designed for satellites. The use of deep neural networks overcame the problem of limited computing power on board the drone.
In another major competition, the A2RL x DCL Autonomous Drone Championship in Abu Dhabi, Team MavLab's AI drone triumphed against leading human pilots from around the world. Teams from the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Austria, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Turkey, China, Spain, Canada, and the USA participated in this prestigious event, which offered a prize pool of US$1 million.
The military and civilian applications of this technology extend far beyond competitions. In disaster areas, autonomous drones could be used to quickly locate the injured, while in the medical field, the time-critical delivery of medications and defibrillators would become possible. In parallel, the German Armed Forces' Cyber Innovation Hub, together with the startup TYTAN Technologies, is developing AI-controlled interceptor drones for defense against enemy drones. These drones, due to their cost-effectiveness, represent an economical alternative to expensive conventional defense systems.
Groundbreaking scientific applications: AI in the search for habitable exoplanets
The search for life in the universe is receiving a significant boost from AI technology: A research team at the University of Bern has developed an AI model that could considerably accelerate the discovery of potentially habitable planets outside our solar system. Based on machine learning methods, the model achieves an impressive accuracy of up to 99 percent in identifying planetary systems that contain at least one Earth-like planet.
The algorithm was trained using data from the so-called “Bern Model of Planet Formation and Evolution,” one of the world’s leading models for planetary formation and evolution. “The Bern model is one of the few models worldwide that offers such a wealth of interconnected physical processes and makes it possible to conduct a study like this one,” said study co-author Yann Alibert.
In a practical test, the algorithm identified 44 real planetary systems that are highly likely to host previously undiscovered Earth-like planets. This groundbreaking application of AI in astronomy illustrates the enormous potential of artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery and generate new insights in areas that have traditionally required very time-consuming research methods.
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Geopolitical dimension: The global AI race and its consequences
The race for leadership in AI technology has long since taken on a geopolitical dimension, with the US and China as the main players, while Europe struggles for its place in this strategic competition. Shortly before the end of its term, the Biden administration enacted new export controls on advanced AI chips, aimed at restricting China's access to key artificial intelligence technologies.
These new export controls divide the world into three categories: Close US allies like Japan, the UK, and the Netherlands continue to enjoy unrestricted access to advanced AI processors. Strict export quotas apply to other countries, while the strictest restrictions are imposed on China, the primary target of the measures. The US cloud computing industry is permitted to deploy a maximum of 50% of its AI computing power outside the US, of which a maximum of 25% can be outside of its closest allies and only 7% in any single country within that category.
The US justifies these measures by claiming that “concerning countries” could use AI technology in ways that would undermine US leadership in the field. For companies like Nvidia, which generate a significant portion of their revenue in China, these export restrictions pose a considerable challenge.
Europe occupies a different position in this geopolitical competition. An analysis by the Global Innovation Hub of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom highlights that while Europe exhibits weaknesses in the hardware sector, it distinguishes itself through a strong research environment, an innovative startup landscape, and internationally recognized ethical standards in the handling of AI. The European strategy could therefore focus on leveraging these specific strengths rather than attempting to catch up with the US and China in areas where they already have a significant lead.
From education to geopolitics: The role of AI in the 21st century
The rapid development and increasing dominance of artificial intelligence in virtually all areas of science, business, and society presents nations and companies with complex strategic decisions. The race for technological leadership in the field of AI will significantly shape global power dynamics in the coming years.
China's comprehensive strategy for integrating AI into its education system aims for long-term competitiveness through the training of the next generation. The US is attempting to secure its leadership position through regulatory measures and export controls, while Europe is seeking its own path, building on its specific strengths in research and ethical standards.
The practical successes of AI systems, which surpass human capabilities in areas such as autonomous drone flights, and scientific breakthroughs like the search for habitable exoplanets point to the enormous transformative potential of this technology. At the same time, intense competition for key technologies such as specialized AI chips is leading to new geopolitical tensions and challenges for international cooperation.
For companies, investors and policymakers, it will be crucial to understand and strategically navigate the dynamics of this global competition in order to benefit from the opportunities of the AI revolution while responding appropriately to the associated risks.
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