The second live debate in The Hopkins Forum, a partnership between Open to Debate and the Johns Hopkins SNF Agora Institute, will explore the high-stakes U.S.-China artificial intelligence (AI) arms race, examining whether U.S. chip controls can secure an American advantage in AI.
The AI revolution is underway, and the U.S. and China are racing to the top. At the heart of this competition are semiconductors—especially advanced GPUs (graphics processing units) that power everything from natural language processing to autonomous weapons. The U.S. is betting that export controls can help check China’s technological ambitions. But will this containment strategy work—or could it inadvertently accelerate China’s drive for self-sufficiency? Those who think chip controls will work argue that restricting China’s access gives the U.S. critical breathing room to advance AI safely, set global norms, and maintain dominance. Those who believe chip controls are inadequate, or could backfire, warn that domestic chipmakers, like Nvidia and Intel, also rely on sales from China. Cutting off access could harm U.S. competitiveness in the long run, especially if other countries don’t fully align with U.S. policy.
As the race for AI supremacy intensifies, come debate the question: Can the U.S. outpace China in AI through chip controls?
Emmy Award–winning journalist John Donvan will moderate.
Arguing in favor:
- Will Hurd, former U.S. Representative and CIA officer, OpenAI board member
- Lindsay Gorman, head of technology and geopolitics at the Alliance for Securing Democracy
Arguing opposed:
- Susan Thornton, former diplomat; visiting lecturer in law and senior fellow at the Yale Law School Paul Tsai China Center
- Paul Triolo, senior vice president and partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group
Tickets
Tickets are free, preregistration required