AI is a pivotal catalyst for global innovation, with the United States at the forefront of the development of this transformative technology amid its ongoing great power rivalry with China. This report aims to define the concept of AI supremacy and to revise the US' AI strategy in accordance with a more comprehensive understanding of it. The report also looks at how the competition has affected actors from the Middle East, namely the UAE and Saudi Arabia, attempting to steer the conversation on the global AI race toward a comprehensive conception of AI supremacy that is anchored in the realities of international affairs and US-China great power competition.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a pivotal catalyst for global innovation, with the United States at the forefront of the development of this transformative technology amid its ongoing great power rivalry with China. However, a notable concern has emerged: the absence of an explicit conception of AI supremacy that threatens to undermine the US’ long-term AI strategy. The notion of AI supremacy traditionally has been difficult to define, paralleling disputes about whether competition over AI is a “race.” This report thus aims to accomplish two objectives: first, to define AI supremacy and anchor this concept in the realities of the AI competition thus far; and second, to revise the US’ AI strategy in accordance with a more comprehensive understanding of AI supremacy.

The AI race, unsurprisingly, has drawn in actors from the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, especially, are pursuing the development of indigenous AI ecosystems, each seeking to attain the regional upper hand, throwing their capital behind their stated national AI aims. This report attempts to steer the conversation on the global AI race toward a comprehensive conception of AI supremacy that is anchored in the realities of international affairs and US-China great power competition.