Opinion | The Real A.I. Race Isn’t America vs. China

The US government is now cosplaying as the Politburo, and the resemblance is getting uncomfortably close. An opinion piece notes that Washington is skating towards its own 'Jack Ma moment' by kneecapping its AI champions. Anthropic's CEO, in a candid moment that must have given his comms team a stroke, said companies using Mythos called it a 'superweapon' — after which the government promptly asked OpenAI to limit users for its next model. Because nothing says 'responsible stewardship' like convincing your leading labs to hobble their own tools while rivals abroad sprint ahead.

The regulatory whiplash here is breathtaking. Just weeks after we noted the Trump administration's wild about-faces on AI policy, the same government that cleared Anthropic's Mythos for limited release is now telling OpenAI to put a cap on users. Meanwhile, the export ban on Anthropic's models — a policy we watched spawn a cottage industry of Asian lookalikes — is a masterclass in self-inflicted wounds. The message to US tech leaders: 'Congratulations on your breakthrough. Now please stop being so successful.'

The opinion piece's thesis is as bleak as it is predictable: by wounding its own tech leaders, the US is simply handing the AI race to China and others on a silver platter. The export bans, the user caps, the flip-flopping approvals — all create a climate of uncertainty that drives talent and capital abroad. So the real AI race isn't America vs. China; it's America vs. its own regulatory stupidity. And at this rate, the US is lapping itself.