Schmidt predicts china closes AI gap to U.S. in six months

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, now CEO of Relativity Space, claims that China has narrowed its AI gap with the U.S. from two years to just six months. In an interview with Rapid Response, hosted by Robert Safian, Schmidt attributes this progress to the dramatic drop in software costs, which has enabled widespread adoption and innovation. He emphasizes that both nations are striving to develop superhuman intelligence systems, with China making significant strides despite U.S. restrictions on chip access. Schmidt notes that China has managed to achieve similar results with one-tenth of the energy and, in some areas, less performance. He describes the competition as a 'two-horse race' and highlights the potential for it to avoid becoming a zero-sum game, though current political tensions complicate this outlook. Schmidt, who previously advised the Pentagon, acknowledges the intense focus on AI in both countries, calling it 'the defining competition of our age.' He points to advancements in autonomous systems, such as Waymo's self-driving cars, as evidence of the rapid progress being made. While the industry debates whether the gap will shrink or widen, Schmidt believes the race remains tightly contested, with both nations pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence.