Published on: April 18, 2025 / update from: April 18, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
AI dominance: A global race for technology leadership in key sectors-Image: Xpert.digital
“Artificial intelligence: The global struggle for technological dominance
The strategic importance of AI for nations and companies
Artificial intelligence develops at a breathtaking speed into a decisive factor in almost all areas of business and society. The latest developments show how nations and companies struggle worldwide for dominance in this transformative technology, while they are also trying to exploit their potential in areas such as education, finance, defense and science. The leadership role in AI technology is increasingly regarded as crucial for national security, economic strength and global influence, which leads to intensive competition and strategic measures.
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China's offensive AI strategy in the education sector
China drives the integration of AI into his education system with considerable reprint in order to prepare the next generation for the digital age. A recently published guideline underlines the strategic importance of artificial intelligence for the country's educational reform, whereby the focus is on promoting critical thinking, problem -solving skills and practical skills.
Together with eight other ministries, the Chinese Ministry of Education has published a comprehensive guide to accelerate the digitization of the educational system. This emphasizes the establishment of a AI-based education system that integrates intelligent technologies into all areas of teaching, learning, evaluation and academic research. Zhou Dawang, head of the Department of Science, Technology and Computerization of the Ministry, said that the guide requires a comprehensive update of disciplines, curricula and talent development in order to meet the requirements of the digital economy.
China's approach is particularly noteworthy to anchor AI formation in primary and secondary schools. The country has selected 184 pilot schools to research philosophies, models and programs in the field of AI formation. The students are expected to gain practical experience with AI technologies in the first elementary school years, while they are researching more complex applications in higher grades and developing their own AI projects. Education Minister Huai Jinpeng describes AI applications as a "golden key" for the education system and emphasizes its potential to shape the future of education.
AI as a growth engine on the global financial markets
The importance of AI is increasingly reflected in the development of the financial markets, where AI shares are among the most popular investment objects. Analysts forecast for 2025 and also enormous growth in the AI sector, which will fundamentally transform numerous economic areas.
The innovation cycles in AI development are getting shorter and shorter: in the first months of 2025 alone, several groundbreaking models caused a sensation. The Chinese start-up Deepseek introduced its model R1 in January, whereupon Elon Musk's company Xai countered with Grok 3 in February. As the next innovation step, Manus AI of the Beijinger start-up Monica is already announcing that the human-machine collaboration should raise to a new level.
Investors are increasingly focusing on companies that either develop AI technologies directly or benefit significantly from their use. AI is gaining in importance rapidly in particular in data intensive and automatable areas such as industrial production, healthcare, customer care as well as in the finance and human resources industry. This development has led to a remarkable increase in value for AI-related shares, with some leading titles have increased by more than 25 percent in the past 12 months.
Technological competition: Alphabet challenges Nvidia's dominance
At the center of technological competition for AI pre-rules is the market for specialized high-performance chips that are currently dominated by Nvidia. With an estimated market share of 80 percent in the global AI chip market, Nvidia has built up an impressive market power. This dominance is based on the NVIDIA GPUS (Graphical Processing Units), which are particularly suitable for the arithmetic-intensive processes in the field of artificial intelligence.
But the competition is formed: The Google mother Alphabet presented its latest generation of in-house processors at its Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas with the so-called Axion chips, which are specially designed for use in data centers. These chips are intended to support Google's core services such as the search engine and AI-related applications and, according to the manufacturer, offer 30 percent higher performance than general ARM chips and 50 percent more power than current X86 chips from other manufacturers.
This is followed by a similar efforts of other tech giants: In view of a forecast AI market volume, 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 the technological management position is therefore significantly intensified.
Revolutionary progress: AI-controlled drones exceed human skills
A remarkable breakthrough in the practical application of AI technologies recently occurred in the field of autonomous flight systems: A drone developed by Delft University of Technology for the first time beat human top pilots in an international competition. On April 14, 2025, the autonomous drone was able to exceed three former world champions of the Drone Champions League (DCL) on a demanding route as part of the A2RL Drone Championship and the Falcon Cup finals.
The victorious drone reached speeds of up to 95.8 km/h and navigated through a complex course with numerous obstacles. Technologically, the system is based on developments in the European Space Organization (ESA), whose guidance and control technology was originally designed for satellites. By using deep neural networks, the problem of limited computing power on board the drone could be overcome.
In another important competition, the A2RL X DCL Autonomous Drone Championship in Abu Dhabi, the AI drone of the Mavlab team triumphed against global human pilots. Teams from the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Austria, South Korea, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Turkey, China, Spain, Canada and the USA took part in this prestigious event.
The military and civilian uses of this technology go far beyond competitions. In disaster areas, autonomous drones could be used to quickly localize injuries, while in the medical field the time -critical delivery of medication and defibrillators is possible. At the same time, the Cyber Innovation Hub of the Bundeswehr, together with the startup Tytan Technologies, develops Ki-controlled interceptor drones for the defense against enemy drones, which, thanks to their cost efficiency, represent an economic alternative to expensive conventional defense systems.
Pioneering scientific applications: AI in the search for habitable exoplanets
The search for life in the universe receives an important thrust through AI technology: A research team from the University of Bern has developed a AI model that could significantly accelerate the discovery of potentially habitable planets outside of our solar system. The model based on machine learning process achieves an impressive accuracy of up to 99 percent in the identification of planetary systems that contain at least one earth -like planet.
The algorithm was trained with data from the so -called “Bern Model of Planet Formation and Evolution”, one of the leading models worldwide to develop and develop. "The Bernese model is one of the few models worldwide that offers such an abundance of coherent physical processes and enables the implementation of a study like the present," the study mitar Yann Alibert is quoted.
In a practical test, the algorithm identified 44 real planetary systems that are very likely to accommodate previously undiscovered earth -like planets. This groundbreaking application of AI in astronomy illustrates the enormous potential of artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discoveries and to gain new knowledge in areas that traditionally required very time -consuming research methods.
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Geopolitical dimension: the global AI race and its consequences
The race for management position in AI technology has long since accepted a geopolitical dimension, with the main actors being USA and China, while Europe is struggling for its place in this strategic competition. Shortly before its end, the bid administration issued new export controls for advanced AI chips that aim to limit China's access to key technologies in the field of artificial intelligence.
These new export controls divide the world into three categories: close allies of the United States such as Japan, Great Britain and the Netherlands continue to enjoy unrestricted access to advanced AI processors. There are strict export quotas for other countries, while for China, the main goal of the measures that are provided for strictest restrictions. The US cloud computing industry may use a maximum of 50% of its AI calculation outside the United States, a maximum of 25% outside of the closest allies and only 7% in a single country in this category.
The United States justifies these measures with the fact that “worrying countries” Ki technology could use in a way that would undermine the US leadership role in the AI area. For companies such as Nvidia who generate a significant part of their sales in China, these export restrictions are a significant challenge.
Europe occupies a different position in this geopolitical competition. An analysis of the Global Innovation Hubs of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom emphasizes that Europe has weaknesses in the hardware sector, but is characterized by a strong research environment, an innovative start-up landscape and internationally recognized ethical standards in dealing with AI. The European strategy could therefore aim to use these specific strengths instead of trying to obtain the USA and China in areas in which 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 almost all areas of science, business and society presents nations and companies against complex strategic decisions. The race for technology leadership in the AI area will significantly shape the global balance of power in the coming years.
With its comprehensive strategy for the integration of AI, China uses the education system to form long -term competitiveness through the training of the next generation. The United States is trying to secure its management position through regulatory measures and export controls, while Europe is looking for its own path that builds on its specific strengths in research and ethical standards.
The practical success of AI systems that exceed human skills in areas such as autonomous drone flights, and the scientific breakthroughs as in the search for habitable exoplanets indicate the enormous transformative potential of this technology. At the same time, the intensive competition for key technologies such as specialized AI chips leads to new geopolitical tensions and challenges for international cooperation.
For companies, investors and political decision-makers, it will be crucial to understand the dynamics of this global competition and to navigate strategically in order to benefit from the opportunities of the AI revolution and at the same time react appropriately to the associated risks.
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