PATRICK TUCKER
China’s massive military parade this week featured a who’s who of well-dressed dictators, a fleet of laser-armed trucks, new hypersonic weapons, beach landing craft and, of course, thousands of uniformed troops marching in intricately coordinated unison. But it left out what might be China’s most important new military asset: a growing ecosystem of small and nimble dual-use AI companies working with the Chinese military.
A new report from the Center for Security and Emerging Technology draws attention to China’s growing appetite for AI-related tech, not just from a handful of big, surveillable state-backed enterprises but from a growing cadre of relatively young outfits emerging from universities and private labs. Those partnerships make it harder for the United States to track what new weapons China is developing and prevent U.S. investors or technology collaborators from helping them.
A significant portion of the technology, like software for piloting drone swarms or advanced navigation systems, have both a civilian and military purpose—much like Chinese flagged fishing and “research” vessels, non-military ships that many U.S. military and national security leaders describe as China’s “maritime militia.”
Much of the technology listed in the report has clear applications for potentially improving the military value of a non-military ship. This includes contracts for semantic modeling software, which uses sensed data and AI to help ships understand where they are without having to rely on GPS. The capability is of limited value to commercial vessels, but high value to ships engaged in military operations.
A company called Beijing SOUVI Information Technology received contracts for drone control systems and intelligent sensing software that could allow a single operator with little training to steer a swarm of drones. It could also allow a Chinese navy operator to operate merchant vessels performing a coordinated operation with the Chinese military.
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