But this week, we take a step back and discuss a broader trend: artificial intelligence and why it’s become such a fixation for China hawks over other areas of U.S.-China technology competition. China is certainly competitive in AI, but it is not the most important part of the U.S.-China technology race. But AI is the only major field in which the United States is marginally ahead of China, rather than falling behind. So why do China hawks talk about the AI race over other technology sectors? Perhaps another reason that AI is the cause du jour in the United States is because AI funding is flowing through Washington just as crypto funding did before it.