China’s AI Development Trajectory: From Fragmented Authoritarianism to Securitisation

China’s 2017 New Generation AI Development Plan marked artificial intelligence as a strategic priority, sparking global competition—particularly with the United States. While Western responses emphasized containment and acceleration, China’s internal dynamics reveal tensions between central coordination and local autonomy. The fragmented authoritarianism thesis, once dominant, is increasingly challenged by the Party’s securitisation of strategic technologies. As Beijing asserts vertical control over AI development, local governments and private firms face pressure to align with national security goals. This hybrid governance model complicates assumptions about China’s AI trajectory and underscores the risks of escalating techno-nationalist competition between major powers.