At Davos today, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis noted that China has rapidly closed the gap in the AI race.

He estimated they are now only 6 to 12 months behind the US, compared to a two-year gap previously. This assessment comes amidst rapid advancements in model architecture and training efficiency that have allowed Chinese labs to overcome certain hardware export restrictions.

"The pace of innovation is global," Hassabis remarked to a packed audience. "While the US maintains a lead in foundational research and top-tier compute availability, the application and optimization layers are seeing fierce competition."

This statement has sparked renewed discussions among policymakers about the effectiveness of current technological embargoes and the future of international AI collaboration.