In July 2017, China's State Council issued a New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, stating that China will become the world's major AI innovation center by 2030. Some have interpreted that as China aiming to surpass the United States in AI to become the world's first in 2030. Years-long restrictions on access to technology have been issued against China; even campus scholars are not immune.

Data suggests U.S. visas issued to Chinese graduate-level students fell more than 80 percent from 2016-2021. The drop was even greater among majors in mathematics, computer science and artificial intelligence, as high as 87 percent across the same period. Along with visa restrictions, funding is down. There are fewer joint publications and more canceled research partnerships. Nearly 98 percent of previous U.S. funding for collaborative AI projects with Chinese institutions was cut from 2017 to 2020.

Competition is in the air. But scholars say complete decoupling proves impossible. CGTN's Liu Jiaxin shares why.