Weaponizing Algorithms: China’s Strategic AI Ecosystem and the Erosion of U.S. Informational Hegemony

Abstract

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has inaugurated a new arena of geopolitical competition, wherein informational dominance, historically held by the United States, is being increasingly contested. This paper explores how the People’s Republic of China has constructed a strategically integrated AI ecosystem that fuses state, military, and private sector capabilities to systematically challenge U.S. informational hegemony. Leveraging doctrines of civil-military fusion, centralized governance, and global technology outreach, China is not only developing advanced AI capabilities but also exporting its algorithmic governance model to reshape global information flows and norms. We argue that the weaponization of algorithms, manifested through surveillance systems, disinformation operations, and infrastructure control, constitutes a form of cognitive warfare aimed at undermining liberal-democratic influence globally. Through a comparative analysis of the U.S. and Chinese AI ecosystems, and case studies of digital authoritarianism and influence operations, the paper illustrates how informational asymmetries are shifting in China’s favor. This shift heralds a transition from a unipolar digital order to a contested multipolar system, with profound implications for global governance, cyber sovereignty, and democratic resilience. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for the U.S. and allied democracies to recalibrate AI strategy, enhance normative leadership, and safeguard the integrity of the global information environment.