Why cling to zero-sum thinking in the age of AI?

Artificial intelligence is more than a technological upgrade.

It is reshaping productivity, social relations and civilization itself.

How countries, particularly major AI powers, respond to this transformation will profoundly influence its future.

Yet some countries remain trapped in zero-sum thinking and bloc confrontation, treating AI as a tool of great-power competition.

Through technology restrictions, industrial decoupling and exclusive partnerships, they seek to preserve technological dominance and monopolize the benefits of innovation.

This outdated mindset is becoming a major obstacle to technological progress and global AI governance.

Cooperation is key to innovation History shows that openness and international cooperation have long driven scientific progress.

The United States itself benefited from global talent flows and cross-border research collaboration after World War II.

China and the US also enjoyed productive periods of scientific exchange.

From early academic exchanges in the 1970s to joint research during the rise of deep learning, scholars and companies from both countries contributed to AI development.

This history demonstrates that sharing knowledge can accelerate innovation and benefit both sides.

But cooperation has increasingly given way to strategic rivalry.

Washington has tightened restrictions on advanced chips, computing power and investment, framing technological competition as a national security issue.

Such measures risk narrowing the space for long-term cooperation and undermining innovation, including within the United States itself.