"New Services Appear Overnight"... AI Hegemony Race Accelerates into a Speed Battle

[Global Focus] Race to be 'First' Accelerates, Regulations Also Move Swiftly

Generative artificial intelligence (AI), triggered by ‘ChatGPT,’ has emerged as a game changer that is reshaping the landscape of global big tech companies, sparking fierce competition. Since OpenAI’s ChatGPT debuted on November 30 last year, six major global tech companies have launched generative AI services within eight months. The competition was initiated by OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT backed by Microsoft (MS), followed by Google and Meta, with Elon Musk’s Tesla CEO-led ‘xAI’ and others joining in. Even Apple, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization, has stepped forward to introduce its own ChatGPT rival service. Amid this intense AI hegemony battle, governments worldwide face deep concerns. In a context of escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, countries are caught in a dilemma: they must encourage their domestic companies to develop AI technologies to secure AI dominance while simultaneously regulating various side effects such as the generation of fake news.

Big Techs Heat Up AI Hegemony Battle

Earlier this year, Apple viewed the generative AI market as a bubble about to burst, similar to the metaverse (extended virtual world) or blockchain. Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed skepticism during the Q1 earnings conference call, saying, "We need to be cautious about how to approach this technology." However, the atmosphere changed dramatically within just two months. Apple established an internal system to develop its own AI model. It formed a development team named ‘Ajax’ and created a ChatGPT rival service called ‘AppleGPT.’ Apple is accelerating technology development, including recruiting experts, aiming for an official launch early next year.

Google has become a follower in the AI race. Seeing the end of its search monopoly era, Google declared a ‘Code Red’ emergency. Although it belatedly introduced AI technology called ‘Bard’ in February, the response was underwhelming. Recently, Google has even had its retired founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin return to headquarters daily to launch a new AI project named ‘Gemini.’ The goal is to unveil more than 20 AI products within this year, with a determination to transform nearly all its products through AI.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

‘Race to Capture AI Corporate Premium’ Accelerates... Full Force on Technology Development

The AI hegemony competition has unfolded as a race against time. The New York Times (NYT) analyzed that companies are focusing more on speed than on the completeness of technology to secure the premium of being the ‘first’ AI company. NYT pointed out, "Giant tech companies, which were conservative about unveiling new technologies, are aggressively changing their business strategies to prioritize market dominance."

MS’s Chief Technology Officer Sam Schillace wrote in an email to employees, "Every time a new technology emerges, the company that first introduces it to the market has long-term advantages," urging them to "avoid the fatal mistake of worrying prematurely about technologies that can be revised later." This emphasizes prioritizing speed over technological perfection. OpenAI’s decision to release the GPT-3.5 prototype a month before unveiling GPT-4 appears to align with this approach.

AI Regulation Also a Competition... Voices Say ‘Premature to Regulate Evolving Technology’

As the AI hegemony competition intensifies, regulatory movements are also gaining momentum. In the U.S., legislative work is underway at both congressional and executive levels. The White House regularly holds policy development meetings to ensure the safe use of AI. The U.S. Senate is pushing to introduce AI regulations in amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), aiming to include AI regulatory measures within defense budgets and policies to formally legislate regulations.

U.S. AI regulations focus heavily on national security and ‘(U.S.) AI sovereignty.’ Earlier, the U.S. Department of Commerce mandated licenses for exports by domestic semiconductor companies to countries of concern such as China, reflecting the same logic. The goal is to block the export of thousands of specialized semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment used to operate GPT, securing an advantage in the AI hegemony race. This regulatory approach is similar to past restrictions on the import and export of nuclear development materials during the early days of nuclear development. Foreign Policy reported, "The U.S. is blocking China’s access as part of the ‘weaponization of semiconductors for security,’" adding, "Just as materials used in nuclear weapon development were controlled, discussions are underway about introducing regulations to control semiconductor technology necessary for GPT operation."

Ahead of next year’s U.S. presidential election, regulatory proposals to curb the exponentially increasing fake content are also underway. On the 22nd, President Joe Biden met with representatives from seven major AI companies including OpenAI, Alphabet, Meta, and MS at the White House, stating, "New laws and oversight are needed to realize AI’s potential and manage the risks it poses." At this meeting, AI companies pledged to implement safety measures such as embedding ‘digital watermarks’ in AI-generated voice and image content to help users distinguish AI-generated fake news. They promised to insert images verifying that content was ‘created by AI.’

The European Union (EU) became the first in the world to pass AI regulatory legislation. Recently, ahead of full-scale AI regulation implementation, the EU dispatched officials to more than ten Asian countries including South Korea, India, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines, urging them to join the EU’s regulatory framework. This move aims to prevent AI regulation from being dominated solely by the U.S. Previously, in 2018, the EU enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the world’s strictest privacy law, leading international discussions on related issues.

Additionally, there are growing efforts to establish institutions overseeing AI, address copyright infringement, prevent technological monopolies, and create international norms for AI-powered facial recognition. However, some argue that since AI technology is still evolving, it is premature to introduce regulations. The NYT stated, "Policy regulations on technology still in its early evolutionary stage are largely meaningless," adding, "The regulatory movements in major countries like the U.S. and Europe are just the beginning of a long and difficult journey."

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