Thinking About China
Opinion

China’s Future AI Drone Army Could Defeat the US

It appears on the surface that the Chinese military could be pulling ahead in its development of AI drone armies.
China’s Future AI Drone Army Could Defeat the US
Employees work on a production line of drones intended for export at a factory in Ruichang, Jiangxi Province, China, on Nov. 27, 2024. STR/AFP via Getty Images
Anders Corr
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Commentary

China can now produce 1 million consumer drones annually, whereas the United States can produce only tens of thousands. Chinese military researchers have filed 930 patents since 2022 related to swarm intelligence, which is key to the success of large numbers of military drones in combat. Meanwhile, U.S. researchers have only filed 60 such patents.

Anders Corr
Anders Corr
Author
Anders Corr has a bachelor’s/master’s in political science from Yale University (2001) and a doctorate in government from Harvard University (2008). He is a principal at Corr Analytics Inc. and publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, and has conducted extensive research in North America, Europe, and Asia. His latest books are “The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy, and Hegemony” (2021) and “Great Powers, Grand Strategies: the New Game in the South China Sea” (2018).
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