American Academy Lecture

The United States, China, and the Future of AI and Global Innovation

The tectonic plates of the international order are shifting at the same moment as the rules for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are yet to be written. How will the trajectory of China and US–China relations impact transformative technologies reshaping societies and the world? China and technology expert Samm Sacks unpacks the possible impacts upon bilateral relations and the global tech supply chain. Sacks will be in discussion with Rebecca Arcesati, lead analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS). Moderated by journalist Felix Lee.

Samm Sacks is a senior fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center and New America’s International Security Program. She has worked on Chinese technology policy for more than fifteen years, both with the US government and the private sector. She is writing a book (to be published by the University of Chicago Press) on data and trust in an era of strategic rivalry with China.

Rebecca Arcesati is Lead Analyst on the Science, Technology and Innovation program, based in the Brussels office. Her research focuses on China’s technology, innovation and digital policy, its artificial intelligence and data strategies, as well as Europe-China innovation relations and US-China technology competition. Prior to joining MERICS, Rebecca gained experience helping Italian tech startups scale in China and as a research assistant in the UN Women China office. She holds an LL.M. in China Studies (Politics and International Relations) from Peking University, where she was a Yenching Scholar. Rebecca also received an MA degree in International Studies from the University of Turin. She has studied and worked in Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian.

Felix Lee is a German-Chinese economics journalist. From 2010, he was the China correspondent in Beijing for nine years. He worked for taz and Table Media before becoming an editor at Süddeutsche Zeitung Dossier. His book China, My Father and I became a Spiegel bestseller and won the 2023 German Business Book Prize.