LIMITLESS: U.S. vs China's Race to Superintelligence | Jeremie & Edouard Harris
In this episode, Jeremie and Edouard Harris, co-founders of Gladstone AI and national security advisors, join us to break down the real score in the U.S.–China AI race.
We unpack what it actually means to “win” in AI: from cutting-edge model development and compute infrastructure to data center vulnerabilities, state-sponsored espionage, and the rise of robotic warfare. The Harris brothers explain why energy is the hidden battleground, how supply chains have become strategic liabilities, and why export controls alone won’t save us.
This is not just a geopolitical showdown - it’s a race for superintelligence, and the clock is ticking.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:05 AI race: who's ahead?
4:41 Framing AI as an arms race
12:58 Gov't awareness of AI conflict
20:38 AI reports feel like sci-fi
24:44 China vs US: model race
29:11 Shift to inference-time compute
31:19 China’s software vs US hardware
34:28 Open vs closed source politics
38:56 China’s energy dominance
43:32 America’s electric grid lag
47:55 Supply chain vulnerabilities
56:30 US chipmaking onshoring
1:01:08 U.S. lead in chips
1:04:00 DUV vs EUV bottlenecks
1:08:26 Manufacturing gap in robotics
1:11:53 Fear vs optimism in culture
1:17:26 Coordination vs dynamism
1:22:10 Bot-driven opinion warfare
1:25:58 China pushing degrowth narratives?
1:29:05 National security recommendations
1:33:36 Co-op or conflict endgame?
1:37:27 Closing
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RESOURCES
Jeremie Harris
https://x.com/jeremiecharris
Edouard Harris
https://x.com/harris_edouard
America’s Superintelligence Project
https://superintelligence.gladstone.ai/
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Securing Superintelligence: National Security, Espionage & AI Control with Jeremie & Edouard Harris
In this thought-provoking episode of The Cognitive Revolution, host Nathan Labenz speaks with Jeremy and Edouard Harris, founders of Gladstone AI and authors of "America's Superintelligence Project." The conversation explores a critical dilemma facing US policymakers: balancing the race to develop advanced AI ahead of China against the risks of losing control of increasingly powerful systems. Drawing from their extensive research with intelligence officials and technical experts, the Harris brothers detail the vulnerabilities in US critical infrastructure that would need to be addressed for a Manhattan Project-style AI initiative, while raising profound questions about the security compromises and centralization of power such a project would entail. Nathan offers his perspective that international cooperation might be preferable to an AI arms race, inviting listeners to consider whether humanity's shared interests might ultimately outweigh geopolitical rivalries in the development of superintelligent systems.
Upcoming Major AI Events Featuring Nathan Labenz as a Keynote Speaker
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America’s Superintelligence Project: https://superintelligence.gladstone.ai
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