Opinion | American AI firms want it both ways in limiting, profiting off China
Opinion | American AI firms want it both ways in limiting, profiting off China
Publish Date: 2026-05-27 04:30:00
Source Domain: www.scmp.com
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Hiring in China-adjacent Markets: Despite not officially offering services in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau, companies like Anthropic are hiring Mandarin-speaking developer experience engineers in Singapore, indicating strategic positioning around China-adjacent markets.
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U.S. and Anthropic’s Rhetoric on China: Anthropic published a policy paper on May 14 arguing the necessity for the U.S. and its allies to secure a 12-to-24-month lead in frontier AI by 2028 to counteract “authoritarian AI leadership” in China.
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Increased Lobbying for AI Regulation: Anthropic disclosed a 333% year-on-year increase in federal lobbying to $1.56 million, focusing on “export controls” and “AI and national security,” reflecting attempts to influence policy on AI.
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Conflicting Posturing and Strategy: AI companies advocate for stricter controls on China while simultaneously hiring to build ecosystems in regions that may be affected by these controls, indicating an internal contradiction within the industry.
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Strategic Contest Over AI Frontier Capability: Anthropic’s policy paper highlights a contest for developing the most powerful AI models and controlling the necessary compute resources, reflecting a belief in technological leadership and the value of scarcity in AI.
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The Value Proposition of AI as a Strategic Asset: The industry views AI as a strategic asset whose value lies in its scarcity, emphasizing early technological dominance to secure global standards and alliances.
