Jeong Min-jeong, International Department Director
Super Bowl contested with strategy, stamina, and quickness
US-China Virtual AI Super Bowl 24 to 18, 6 points up
China responds to the US ‘Genesis Mission’ with ‘AI+’
Korea should score points in the stadium, not in the stands.
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Every February, the entire United States is excited. Because of the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), is not just a sports game. It is an exhilarating drama that unfolds for 60 minutes in the fourth quarter. The offensive team advances 10 yards and aims for a touchdown, while the defensive team blocks the opponent’s advance and looks for an opportunity to counterattack. What’s interesting is that the team that leads until halftime does not necessarily win. The strategy that determines the game, the stamina to withstand rough fights, and the agility to exploit the opponent’s weaknesses determine the outcome.
Now the world is witnessing another Super Bowl. It is a competition for artificial intelligence (AI) supremacy between the United States and China. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently asked six AI experts to rate the U.S.-China AI competition as a football score. The result was 24 points in the US and 18 points in China. Although the United States is currently ahead by 6 points, it is not a situation to be reassured. In the Super Bowl, 6 points can be overturned with just one touchdown.
The current ‘quarterback’ in the United States is NVIDIA. It exclusively produces cutting-edge AI chips and dominates the heart of AI development around the world. ‘Receivers’ such as OpenAI, Google, xAI, and Anthropic have succeeded in commercialization by receiving sophisticated passes and connecting them to touchdowns. The U.S. government has blocked China’s advance with a defensive strategy of export controls, and Silicon Valley’s innovation ecosystem is producing the world’s best players. Going further, President Donald Trump proposed the ‘Genesis Mission’, which can be called the ‘AI version of the Manhattan Project’. ‘Genesis’ refers to the ‘Genesis’ of the Bible. This is a name that clearly reflects the United States’ ambition to open a new world with AI. It is an ‘AI general mobilization order’ to mobilize national capabilities to seize AI hegemony, which has emerged as the core of national security beyond the economy.
But China is also not an easy opponent. DeepSeek, which appeared in January last year, had a huge impact on the AI industry. Even in a poor chip environment, it achieved performance comparable to the American model and attracted the attention of developers around the world by releasing open source. Chinese companies such as Huawei, Alibaba, and Xiaopeng are already producing results that threaten the United States in the AI and robotics fields. It is reminiscent of ‘Underdog’, where players trained through rigorous training work together to score points even though there is no experienced quarterback. Last year, China launched the ‘AI+’ strategy to apply AI to the entire economy, including research, industry, and medicine. Recently, it has been reported that a prototype of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) exposure equipment, which is essential for cutting-edge semiconductor production, has been completed and has begun test operation.
Meanwhile, the world is paying attention to the impact that President Trump’s recent decision will have on the competition for AI hegemony. The export of Nvidia’s AI chip H200 to China has been approved. Although the H200 is a generation older than the latest Blackwell chip, it is said to be 16% more efficient and 32% better in performance than China’s Huawei’s highest-spec chip. WSJ likened this to, “It’s like handing over an old but legendary quarterback to the opposing team.” There are even predictions that China could use this as leverage to catch up with the United States and reverse the situation.
Where is ‘Team Korea’ in the US-China AI competition that is taking place at stake for the country’s survival? Are you sitting in the stands watching the Super Bowl game between players from both countries? In the recent ‘Global AI Index 2025’ evaluation conducted by Britain’s Tortoise Media and Observer, which analyzed the AI capabilities and competitiveness of 93 countries around the world, Korea ranked 5th overall. However, its limitations were also clear, ranking only 13th and 17th in the talent and industrial ecosystem categories, respectively. What is clear is that the game cannot be changed from the audience. In an AI competition where national survival is at stake, you must enter the arena. We need to foster leading AI companies, integrate the data they will use, expand power infrastructure, and develop talent. If you don’t run with both feet, it’s impossible to even win, let alone win. It is time to strategize and develop stamina on how to score points and survive in this grueling survival game for AI supremacy.
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