AI Pulls U.S., China Closer on Security as $6.3 Billion Crypto Hack Sharpens Shared Threats
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Nov 2
AI Pulls U.S., China Closer on Security as $6.3 Billion Crypto Hack Sharpens Shared Threats
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Nov 2
Summary
Nine days across Beijing, Xiong’an, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shenzhen led the columnist to argue that AI is already redrawing U.S.-China ties, nudging the rivals toward geopolitical convergence even as trade frictions deepen.
A $6.3 billion cryptocurrency theft and tighter airport checks on drones illustrate the shift: both governments increasingly face “superempowered” bad actors using off-the-shelf drones and AI-enabled cyberweapons.
That shared danger cuts across long-running disputes, because small groups—and potentially increasingly autonomous AI models themselves—can now wield disruptive power once associated with states.
The result, the essay argues, is a new U.S.-China dynamic: still divided over Taiwan and conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, but pushed toward cooperation by common AI-era security risks.