China Builds New AI ‘Supermind’

(ConservativeSense.com) – China is constructing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) network to observe science and research worldwide, allowing it to adopt new breakthroughs for its own advancement. Known as “Supermind,” the network is part of a new information and intelligence center the communist nation built in the tech-dominated city of Shenzhen. The city’s government has invested $280 million as part of China’s ambition to overtake the US in technology – a desire expressed by President Xi Jinping.

Media reports quote a Chinese insider who said the system will cultivate a database of scientists and researchers worldwide, and collate information on their work. A “Supermind” user can then ask the AI device to pinpoint world leaders in specific areas and receive instant access to their identities.

Kevin Gamache, the Chief Research Security Officer at Texas A&M University, said China will use the information to “conduct targeted recruitment” and gain access to “tomorrow’s, or even the next decade’s, technology.”

News of the database comes as America and China delay the renewal of a science pact. The US-China Science and Technology Agreement expires in early March and will not be renewed due to disagreements between the two countries. The State Department said it is negotiating to “amend, extend and strengthen protections.”

Signed in 1979 by President Carter and Premier Deng Xiaoping, the agreement was the first deal between America and China and promised cooperation and reciprocity in technological and scientific advancement. It renews every five years, but President Biden decided last year that a new round of negotiations was necessary to protect US interests. With tensions rising between the two powers, Biden said he wants to ensure that American scientists will be safe if they visit China.

Denis Simon of the Institute for China-America Studies said renewal is likely, but America wants to ensure its citizens will not be detained or harassed should they travel to the Asian power to conduct joint studies or share information.