US vs China AI race: Who leads in four charts

The US and China are set to meet in Washington, DC on Thursday for a summit covering trade and AI, with the US proposing a hotline to alert each other on AI security incidents. The meeting comes as both superpowers accelerate their AI race. The US dominates AI computing power, holding nearly three-quarters of global capacity versus China's 14 percent, largely due to access to advanced Nvidia chips and over 5,400 data centres. However, Chinese AI models are closing the gap, with DeepSeek and Alibaba ranking near top US models on leaderboards. US hyperscalers are projected to spend $764bn on AI infrastructure in 2026, far exceeding China's $102bn, though China's spending is growing faster. China leads in AI research publications and top researcher training, but 72 percent of its top AI talent works in the US.