"The China Debate We're Not Having" | Part 4: The AI Race Reconsidered

AI policy in the United States currently suffers from a "Cartesian" bias, prioritizing disembodied, speculative existential risks over the material, infrastructural realities of the technology. This focus obscures critical societal challenges, including algorithmic discrimination, labor displacement, and data privacy. Unlike China’s integrated approach, which emphasizes advanced manufacturing and embodied AI, American discourse often treats AI as a state of exception, exempt from existing regulatory frameworks. Alondra Nelson, former Director of the White House Office for Science and Technology Policy, argues that effective governance requires moving beyond the false dichotomy of total deregulation or status quo defense. Instead, policymakers must develop new institutional structures that treat AI as a tangible infrastructure, prioritizing evidence-based stewardship, democratic oversight, and the integration of fresh, diverse perspectives to ensure technology advances human flourishing rather than merely accelerating market-driven outcomes.