China's ability to advance in AI is limited without significant political reforms, but democratic reforms may not be necessary for competitiveness.
Historically, most countries that transition from low-income to middle-income status only need to get a few key factors right, like urbanization and rule of law.
China faces challenges in sustaining economic growth due to factors like rising wages, an aging population, and the need to transition to developing frontier technologies.
Governments, particularly the US, are involved in a variety of technical research areas such as defense, regulatory agencies, and other government departments.
There is a mix of in-house and contracted technical research, with some independent agencies excelling in this area.
Defense research tends to dominate government technical research, with no clear pattern indicating whether in-house or contracted research is more successful.
The Defence Production Act grants the President expansive powers to strengthen the US industrial base, and it has remained largely unchanged since 1953.
Certain antitrust provisions of the Defence Production Act allow firms to make voluntary agreements that might otherwise be illegal under antitrust laws.
The Biden executive order on AI incorporates elements authorized under the legal authority of the Defence Production Act, such as reporting requirements for AI training runs and NIST's development of new AI safety standards.