Presented in Partnership with the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University
ARGUING YES
Managing Director and Senior Fellow of the German Marshall Fund’s Technology Program; Venture Scientist at Deep Science Ventures
ARGUING YES
Former U.S. Representative and CIA Officer
ARGUING NO
Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Senior Fellow at the Yale Law School Paul Tsai China Center
ARGUING NO
Senior Vice President and Partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group
MODERATOR
Host and Moderator-in-Chief
This week:
- New episode: Can chip controls help America win the AI Race?
- Your Sunday reading list
DeepSeek. TikTok. Taiwan.
Plus, this week, a new move from the Trump White House: rescinding the almost-implemented AI Diffusion Rule and expanded chip export controls aimed at China — a signal that the U.S.-China tech rivalry is only heating up.
All these flashpoints were front and center in a dynamic debate held on Wednesday night at the beautiful Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus in Baltimore, Maryland.
As part of The Hopkins Forum series, Open to Debate, in partnership with the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, hosted a timely discussion on one of the most pressing geopolitical and technological questions of our time: Would restricting exports of advanced semiconductors to China give the U.S. an edge in the AI race?
Arguing “yes”, Lindsay Gorman and former Congressman Will Hurd emphasized that the U.S. and its allies currently control critical chip-making capabilities, which China cannot easily replicate. Gorman cited DeepSeek, a new Chinese AI company, whose CEO admitted advanced chip bans are a key barrier to their growth. Hurd equated the race for artificial intelligence to nuclear fission and the importance of first-mover advantage when it comes to AGI.
Arguing “no,” Paul Triolo and Susan Thornton countered that chip restrictions may do more harm than good. Triolo noted that China is already close behind in AI development, and that shifting export controls will create uncertainty and disrupt global supply chains. Thornton warned that sidelining China — a key player in the tech economy— could hurt U.S. businesses, damage alliances, and inflame tensions over Taiwan, which is home to the world’s most critical chipmakers.
The result: a sharp, forward-looking debate that underscored just how much is at stake in the global contest for AI leadership. Give it a listen on your favorite podcast platform, NPR, and YouTube. As always, let us know what you think.
More soon,
Lia Matthow
Chief Content Officer
POINT/COUNTERPOINT
Can the U.S. Outpace China in AI Through Chip Controls?
YES: Lindsay Gorman
“Who has asked it, [ChatGPT’s] model, for information about China’s leader, Xi Jinping, or about Tiananmen Square? Maybe one, two, a few of you. The answer you get is, ‘Let’s talk about something else.’ We cannot let an autocratic regime build and define the most consequential technologies of our era.”
NO: Susan Thornton
“The costs are obvious: costs to U.S. companies by giving up one third of the technology market. There are costs to our relations with our allies who don’t want to join us in these policies of chip controls because they don’t see China as an enemy in the same way that we tend to. It’s costing us obviously, as has been mentioned, in relations with China.”
YES: Will Hurd
“The first-mover advantage when we get to AGI– I know we’re gonna have some debates on ‘What does AGI mean, artificial general intelligence?’ There’s different names for it, really powerful AI that’s gonna be hard for a human to control. The first-mover advantage of that is gonna be so important, and let me be frank: America may not get [Artificial General Intelligence] right. But I know for a fact the Chinese government won’t.”
NO: Paul Triolo
“The controls have really highlighted two very sensitive geopolitical issues… They’ve precluded, so far, any real collaboration between the U.S. and China on the critical issue of AI safety. This is happening just as we’re on the verge of a key inflection point, the development of artificial general intelligence.”
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