Trump is Taking a Page Out of China’s Sovereign AI Playbook

In this Financial Times commentary, DRI WISC Affiliate Faculty Winston Ma argues that both the United States and China are converging on a new model of “sovereign AI,” in which governments move beyond regulation and become direct participants in the AI economy. Drawing on Jensen Huang’s conception of the AI stack, Ma contends that Washington’s consideration of equity stakes in frontier AI firms mirrors Beijing’s longstanding use of state capital to support strategic technologies. As governments increasingly view AI companies as critical national infrastructure rather than ordinary software ventures, questions of ownership, governance, and the balance between commercial objectives and national priorities will become central to the next phase of AI competition.

Read the full commentary.