White House AI Czar Says China Nears US AI Lead by 3-6 Months

David Sacks, White House AI and Crypto Czar, stated that China is only three to six months behind the United States in artificial intelligence development, highlighting a close global race for AI dominance. This assessment was made during the Amazon AWS summit and underscores the competitive pressure the U.S. faces, especially as the Trump administration has implemented semiconductor export restrictions to China in an effort to maintain leadership. The announcement impacted financial markets, with AI-focused cryptocurrency tokens like Fetch.ai and SingularityNET seeing significant price increases, and broader crypto assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum experiencing modest gains. Sacks also cautioned that over-regulation of AI in the U.S. could hinder innovation, even as companies like Nvidia benefit from strong demand for AI-related chips despite export controls. These developments reflect the intertwining of geopolitical, technological, and financial factors shaping the AI and crypto markets amid intensifying rivalry between the U.S. and China. Market participants are closely watching these dynamics as they influence investment flows and regulatory approaches.