Tech Titans at War: The US-China Innovation Race with Jimmy Goodrich

Host Elizabeth Economy sits down with Jimmy Goodrich to discuss the technology competition between the United States and China.  Goodrich argues that the competition is far from settled with leadership in many emerging technologies still up for grabs. 

He describes China’s model as one defined by state-led investment in key sectors, tremendous depth in their ability to innovate, and leading the race in advanced technology and patents. He also outlines China’s long-term ambition to dominate the next wave of advanced technology such as high-energy physics and quantum computing. But he cautions that a weak private sector and venture capital landscape, as well as constraints on access to foreign technology, pose real limitations in some areas.

The United States, in contrast, is led by a dynamic private sector with a strong startup ecosystem, and world-class universities. It is also viewed as possessing more advanced capabilities in the current generation of technology. Goodrich concludes that whichever nation can better attract the top talent, create the best companies to diffuse AI into their economy, and effectively integrate AI into the military will shape the world we live in for generations to come.

Recorded on December 2nd, 2024. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Jimmy Goodrich is a leading expert on technology, geopolitics, and national security with a focus on China and East Asia. He is a senior advisor for technology analysis to the RAND Corporation and a nonresident fellow at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, where he works in various capacities on research regarding China, technology, and national competitiveness. Jimmy was previously the vice president for global policy at the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), where he led the industry’s supply chain, international trade, export control, global market research, and China efforts. His work at SIA included researching Chinese industrial policy and chip industry economics, successfully securing $52 billion in funding for the CHIPS and Science Act, and navigating complex multinational export control and other national security issues. Jimmy was also the director for China policy at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) in Washington, DC, and prior to that spent seven years in the tech sector in China.

Elizabeth Economy is the Hargrove Senior Fellow and co-director of the Program on the US, China, and the World at the Hoover Institution. From 2021-2023, she took leave from Hoover to serve as the senior advisor for China to the US secretary of commerce. Before joining Hoover, she was the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and director, Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of four books on China, including most recently The World According to China (Polity, 2021), and the co-editor of two volumes. She serves on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. She is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a book reviewer for Foreign Affairs.  

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ABOUT THE SERIES

China Considered with Elizabeth Economy is a Hoover Institution podcast series that features in-depth conversations with leading political figures, scholars, and activists from around the world. The series explores the ideas, events, and forces shaping China’s future and its global relationships, offering high-level expertise, clear-eyed analysis, and valuable insights to demystify China’s evolving dynamics and what they may mean for ordinary citizens and key decision makers across societies, governments, and the private sector.