Industrial Research Institute: "US and China Compete for AI Supremacy... Korea Needs a National Control Tower"

Industrial Research Institute Report on 'The Direction and Implications of the United States' AI Strategy'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] As the United States announced a comprehensive national strategy to curb China's rise in artificial intelligence (AI), there are calls for South Korea to establish a national-level control tower to respond to trade issues related to new industries.

The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) released a report titled "The Direction of the U.S. AI Strategy and Its Implications" on the 16th, containing these points.

The U.S. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) submitted a report to the President and Congress last March, diagnosing the state of AI and advanced industries in the U.S. and offering policy recommendations. The report stated that China has the capability and determination to surpass the U.S. as the leading AI nation within ten years, emphasizing that to win the future U.S.-China AI technology hegemony competition, the U.S. must mobilize national capabilities at a level comparable to Cold War responses.

To this end, it recommended establishing a Technology Competitiveness Committee within the President’s Office, pursuing legislation for a second National Defense Education Act to cultivate talent in AI and STEM fields, and formulating a national intellectual property strategy to develop, disseminate, and protect AI and advanced technologies. Additionally, it proposed export controls on manufacturing equipment necessary for sub-16 nanometer (nm) semiconductor processes to secure a technological gap with China, and efforts to curb China’s rise in advanced industries through technological alliances.

KIET warned, "Since the U.S. is addressing the U.S.-China technology hegemony issue at a level comparable to the Cold War, we also need a response system and AI strategy that mobilizes national capabilities."

Considering the domestic industrial structure closely linked to the U.S. and China, it is necessary to closely monitor the conflict between the two countries and comprehensively review the currently pursued AI and industrial technology strategies against those of major countries. It also emphasized that the supply chain of advanced industries is expected to be reorganized based on alliance systems, and that strategies to gain an advantage in the new supply chain are needed. Above all, it stated that strengthening competitiveness in this field is necessary to actively utilize high-level talent and semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

Kyung Hee-kwon, a senior researcher at KIET, said, "The U.S.-China technology hegemony competition will be a significant variable affecting our future growth engines and related supply chains such as semiconductors, bio, and advanced communications for more than the next ten years," adding, "It is extremely urgent to establish a national-level control tower involving both the public and private sectors to respond to the rapidly changing supply chain reorganization trends."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.