China’s relentless drive and strategic investments in AI suggest it is only a matter of time before it catches up—if not surpasses—the United States’ early lead.

Chinese competitors stand about five years behind global leaders in high-volume manufacturing of leading-edge logic semiconductor chips and continue to trail in memory chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, although Chinese firms have made inroads in semiconductor design and production of legacy semiconductor chips.

The U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which was created to serve counterweight to China’s Belt-and-Road initiative, rewards countries whose intellectual property and data policies harm American commercial interests and jobs. That needs to stop.

As AI continues to advance, the technology has created many opportunities and risks. Despite significant geopolitical differences, a series of interviews with AI experts in China and the United Kingdom reveals common AI safety priorities, shared understanding of the benefits and risks of open source AI, and agreement on the merits of closer collaboration—but also obstacles to closer partnerships.

China used to be considered a laggard in biotech. But with a comprehensive national strategy and extensive resources now supporting the industry, it is becoming more innovative. In fact, several indicators suggest it is narrowing the innovation gap with global leaders in the West.

China is at the global forefront of the electric vehicle (EV) and EV battery industries. Its firms produce nearly two-thirds of the world’s EVs and more than three-quarters of EV batteries. They also have produced notable innovations in EV products, processes, and customer experiences.

A Democratic staff report from the House Small Business Committee claims that small businesses are better for the economy and large firms are harming it. But most of the report’s assertions stem from flawed research, and its policy recommendations would be detrimental.

The next administration needs to place innovation, productivity, and competitiveness at the core of its economic policy. To that end, this report offers a comprehensive techno-economic agenda with 82 actionable policy recommendations.

Technologies and tech companies are accused of creating a myriad of societal problems. Technology Fears and Scapegoats exposes them as mostly myths, falsehoods, and exaggerations. It issues a clarion call to restore the West’s faith in technological progress.

Though China built upon a foreign base of technology, it has become the world’s leading proponent of nuclear energy. Chinese firms are well ahead of their Western peers, supported by a whole-of-government strategy that provides extensive financing and systemic coordination.

State product liability laws traditionally hold manufacturers, distributors, and sellers strictly liable for defective products they bring to market. As consumers increasingly make purchases from online marketplaces—platforms that aggregate products from multiple third-party sellers—new questions arise about how to best protect them from defective products that pose a risk to health and safety.

America desperately needs a federal privacy law—but it needs the right federal privacy law. In its current state, APRA is not that law. But with a few important changes, it could be.

Protecting children from online harms requires a careful balance between ensuring safety and safeguarding free speech, user privacy, and parents’ rights. The most effective approach would split responsibility between the government, parents, and online services.

Some concerns are legitimate, but others are not. Some require immediate regulatory responses, but many do not. And a few require regulations addressing AI specifically, but most do not.

A nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 adults in the UK, conducted by Public First in partnership with the Center for Data Innovation to track how public attitudes and perceptions of artificial intelligence.

In a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults, Public First and the Center for Data Innovation track public attitudes and perceptions of artificial intelligence.

Vibrant regional energy innovation ecosystems are important for any national net-zero strategy. But to understand the potential contributions they can make to the price and performance of clean energy technologies, we must first benchmark the resources they bring to bear.

Despite claims by anticorporate neo-Brandeisians, corporate concentration appears positively correlated with higher productivity and wages. So, the push to break up large companies is antiworker and anti-middle class.

Congress has allocated $42.5 billion to bridge America’s digital divide through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. To achieve that goal, states and territories must carefully craft plans to use their shares of the funds to the greatest possible benefit.

Larger firms are generally more productive because of scale economies, but some U.S. industries still have too high a share of small firms. Policymakers should encourage, not discourage, greater consolidation in these industries.

Canada faces unprecedented challenges in innovation, productivity, and competitiveness. The first step in addressing them is to develop a clear understanding of the Canadian economy’s underlying structure and performance in each area. Policymakers must then tailor strategies for specific industries and technologies instead of focusing on principally on macro factors.

Better evidence is needed to evaluate the impact of policy changes on new drug development. Greater availability of government data should support more rigorous evaluations to inform evidence-based policymaking.

Alone, America cannot stem Beijing’s rise in advanced industries. We need a new pact with Europe. Its objective should be to refuse to surrender to technological domination by the CCP. Being pioneers of the green transition will not be enough.

China is leading in chemical production, especially basic chemicals. And while it is currently lagging behind on innovation—especially in more complex fine chemicals—all signs suggest it will catch up with the global leaders within the next decade or two.

With the gradual shift from internal combustion to electric vehicles, it is only a matter of time before the nation will have to replace gas taxes with a vehicle miles traveled system to pay for road maintenance. The most sensible way to start would be with heavy trucks.

China does not yet appear to be leading in robotic innovation, but its domestic production and adoption are growing rapidly, and the Chinese government has prioritized the industry. It is likely only a matter of time before Chinese robotics companies catch up to the leading edge.

America’s leadership in advanced-technology industries can never be taken for granted, as evidenced by its losses in telecommunications equipment, semiconductors, televisions, solar panels, and chemicals. Policymakers must recognize what went wrong in those cases to avoid a similar industrial decline in the biopharmaceutical industry.

India has the potential to play a much more significant role in global semiconductor value chains, provided the government upholds its investment policies, maintains a conducive regulatory and business environment, and avoids measures that create unpredictability.

China now dominates the strategically important industries in ITIF’s Hamilton Index, producing more than any other nation in absolute terms and more than all but a few others in relative terms. Its gains are coming at the expense of the United States and other G7 and OECD economies, and time is running short for policymakers to mount an industrial comeback.