The West fears what AI could do to humanity. China’s leaders have a very different threat in mind.
Lagging behind American AI development, the Chinese Communist Party is concerned about the threat the technology poses to its own leadership. Photo: Getty Images
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In the Western world, fears of an artificial intelligence-induced apocalypse loom large at present, with various scenarios ranging from the AI-powered hijacking of nuclear weapons to the AI-powered development of unstoppable bioweapons keeping government officials and industry experts awake at night. China is seen as the West’s strongest competitor in this race, and one it is determined not to lose. The stakes are not merely technological or economic, but geopolitical and potentially military: neither side wants to hand the other a decisive advantage.
Meanwhile, in China, the government’s main AI concern is decidedly less cataclysmic. Rather than the end of the world, it concerns the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – which from the CCP’s perspective might as well be the same thing.
China offered an unusual glimpse into the state’s thinking about AI on Sunday, when the state-run China Cyberspace magazine published an article by the country’s intelligence chief setting out a vision for the “healthy and orderly” domestic development of AI.
The text, attributed to Minister of State Security Chen Yixin, described the primary risks and challenges presented by AI. At the top of the list was the “systemic impact” on China’s political and security environment.
According to Chen, the number of AI users exceeded 500 million in June, even as the technology was being abused by what he described as “hostile forces and individuals” with “ulterior motives”.
Deepfakes are digital media manipulated using AI to depict people saying or doing things they did not actually say or do. Chen claimed that deepfakes, other AI-generated content and trolling are being used to fabricate political rumors, spread "harmful information" and stir unrest at scale. The activity amounts to a propaganda and cognitive war, he said, adding that it threatens China’s political, institutional and ideological security.
Chen identified leading American models like Anthropic’s Claude Mythos and OpenAI’s GPT-5.5-Cyber as particular threats, citing them as examples of the “disruptive” advances in AI that China must take into account.
Such technologies lower the costs of engaging in cyberattacks and pose a major risk to China's critical infrastructure, the senior minister said. He also warned that AI could increase the risk of espionage and leaks by enabling foreign intelligence agencies to collect sensitive data on a large scale.
The primary response to these threats, Chen said, must be to strengthen the CCP’s leadership, particularly in the governance of the internet and data, ensuring adherence to the “correct orientation” and transforming the advantages of CCP leadership into the “effectiveness of artificial governance”.
Chen’s article came just one day after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a new call for a slowdown in AI development. Amodei’s proposals included measures to constrain Chinese AI labs, such as cutting off the sale of powerful AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China.
Hindering China would ensure that democracies could pace their AI development without having to worry that China would leap ahead, Amodei claimed.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday rejected Amodei’s characterization, arguing instead that “fear-mongering” and “vicious competition” were the real obstacles to global AI governance.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump took aim this week at what he referred to as a “SICK conspiracy” against American AI and data centers.
“There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE”, Trump wrote in a post on social media platform Truth Social.
The president’s comments come amid intense debate about AI’s apocalyptic potential. In recent weeks, frontier engineers and researchers have warned that the technology could result in human extinction.
Trump expanded on his comments in an unorthodox fashion on Monday, contributing via speakerphone at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, California, during a session featuring Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Calling Huang while he was on stage, Trump said that opposition to America’s AI and data center ambitions was a “hoax”.
“The data centers are great and they make people wealthy and they make states wealthy and it’s the oil of the next 20–25 years. It’s bigger than the internet and the AI much more so. They’re just playing right into the hands of a lot of people that don’t want to see it happen – that could be political people and it could also be China”, he said, adding that “we’re not going to let that happen”.
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