America and China’s AI Race and What It Means for Bangladesh
As the U.S. and China compete for AI dominance, Bangladesh faces a new non-alignment challenge. This piece examines their rival AI agendas and how Bangladesh can shape its own strategic AI path.
যুক্তরাষ্ট্র ও চীনের মধ্যে কৃত্রিম বুদ্ধিমত্তা (এআই) নিয়ে বৈশ্বিক প্রতিযোগিতা বাংলাদেশের জন্য যেমন নতুন সুযোগ তৈরি করছে, তেমনি কিছু চ্যালেঞ্জও নিয়ে আসছে। আমেরিকার এআই পরিকল্পনা মূলত নিয়ন্ত্রণ কমানো, বেসরকারি খাতের উদ্ভাবন এবং বৈশ্বিক প্রভাব বাড়ানোর ওপর জোর দেয়। অন্যদিকে, চীনের পরিকল্পনা সহযোগিতা, অবকাঠামো উন্নয়ন এবং অন্তর্ভুক্তিমূলক উন্নয়নকে গুরুত্ব দেয়। এই প্রেক্ষাপটে বাংলাদেশকে নিজস্ব একটি ভারসাম্যপূর্ণ এআই রোডম্যাপ তৈরি করতে হবে, যেখানে নৈতিক ব্যবস্থাপনা, স্মার্ট অবকাঠামো এবং সরকারি-বেসরকারি অংশীদারিত্বের মাধ্যমে এআইকে জাতীয় উন্নয়নের হাতিয়ার হিসেবে ব্যবহার করা হবে, যেন বড় শক্তিগুলোর প্রতিযোগিতার শিকার না হতে হয়।
The United States and China lead the world in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and dominance. Both nations are expanding their spheres of influence by encouraging other countries to align with their respective technological and strategic blocs. For Bangladesh, once part of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) during the Cold War, the challenge now lies in determining its position within this evolving landscape of AI power competition.
This article reviews the AI Action Plans of the U.S. and China and examines their implications for Bangladesh.
The America’s AI Action Plan (2025), issued under President Donald J. Trump’s administration, presents an ambitious and nationalist roadmap to achieve “global AI dominance” through three pillars: accelerating AI innovation, building AI infrastructure, and leading in international AI diplomacy and security. The plan positions AI as both an economic driver and a matter of national security and geopolitical power, emphasizing deregulation, open-source innovation, and U.S. technological supremacy over strategic competitors.
In contrast, China released its Global AI Governance Action Plan in July 2025 at the World AI Conference in Shanghai. It outlines six core principles for global AI governance, focusing on international cooperation, infrastructure development, data sharing, and ethical standards to ensure that AI benefits all nations. Key initiatives include developing digital infrastructure, safeguarding data privacy, and enhancing AI capacity, particularly in developing countries to bridge the digital divide.
The first pillar of America’s plan seeks to unleash private-sector-led innovation by removing regulatory barriers, promoting open-weight AI models, and ensuring ideological neutrality in AI systems. It links AI to industrial rejuvenation, scientific advancement, and job creation, portraying it as the engine of a “new American industrial and information revolution.”
Similarly, China’s Global AI Governance Action Plan emphasizes promoting AI across various sectors through international cooperation. While the U.S. prioritizes deregulation and free-market innovation, China’s model relies on state coordination and public-private partnerships to integrate AI into its real economy. Bangladesh can learn from both approaches. Following these strategies, the country should encourage collaboration between the public and private sectors to develop AI applications in key areas such as healthcare, education, and agriculture, sectors vital to national development and social well-being.
The second pillar of America’s plan focuses on physical and digital infrastructure– data centers, semiconductors, energy grids, and cybersecurity systems to sustain large-scale AI operations. It promises to expand energy production, restore semiconductor manufacturing on U.S. soil, and train a skilled technical workforce. The plan emphasizes American-made hardware, secure data centers, and control over the AI supply chain.
Following this vision, Google announced plans to build a USD 15 billion AI data center in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. China, too, emphasizes building AI infrastructure in industrial and manufacturing sectors. Bangladesh should build strong AI infrastructure through international cooperation. Google’s investment in India may serve as a useful example, and Bangladesh should consider collaborating with major tech companies to attract investment in its own AI sector.
The third and most important pillar of America’s plan extends into global geopolitics, calling for the export of U.S. AI technologies to allies, strict controls on semiconductors, and countermeasures against Chinese influence. The U.S. envisions an “AI alliance” that promotes American standards globally while restricting rivals’ access to advanced models. China’s plan, meanwhile, stresses international cooperation and the idea that “the Global South should truly access and utilize AI.” Whether framed as competition or collaboration, both powers recognize AI as a strategic instrument of diplomacy and influence.
For Bangladesh, this global race offers both opportunities and risks. The country’s economic success built on textiles and remittances, must now be strengthened by technology-driven pillars. Building intelligent computing power, data centers, and next-generation networks should be national priorities. At the same time, Bangladesh must ensure AI safety, data privacy, and sound governance. Strengthening data protection laws, establishing a risk evaluation framework, and addressing algorithmic bias are essential to build public trust.
To move forward with an AI plan, Bangladesh should consider several key steps. It should be strategic about which AI bloc it aligns with, as the U.S. has already indicated that they will share American AI technologies, standards, and governance models to their allies, not rival countries. Bangladesh should participate in international capacity-building programs through joint laboratories, AI education initiatives, and collaborative research platforms.
AI development cannot be a top-down government initiative alone. It requires collaboration among industry leaders, universities, policymakers, and civil society. Establishing a national AI council or forum would allow diverse voices to shape an AI strategy that reflects Bangladesh’s social and economic priorities. The government should also prioritize key sectors– agriculture, education, and healthcare, for AI-based transformation, as these will drive future infrastructure development.
Bangladesh must integrate national security and ethical safeguards into all AI strategies. As the country accelerates digital transformation, data protection laws and institutional capacities must be strengthened in parallel.
The AI Action Plans of the United States and China are timely and comprehensive documents that mirror Bangladesh’s own opportunities and challenges. They show that the race for AI is not only about technology but also about governance, infrastructure, and inclusivity. For Bangladesh, the message is clear: the future is not something to wait for, it must be built.
By developing its own AI roadmap, one that prioritizes inclusive growth, strong ethics, smart infrastructure, and international cooperation– Bangladesh can ensure that the AI revolution becomes the engine driving its journey toward becoming a developed nation, rather than a source of a new digital divide.
About the Author
Zahed Arman, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre at Mississippi State University, United States. He can be reached at armanzahed@gmail.com.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Insighta’s editorial stance. However, any errors in the stated facts or figures may be corrected if supported by verifiable evidence. | A guest post by
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