Work: U.S. at risk of losing military technology edge to China in two years

The United States will lose its military technological superiority to China in two years if it does not put its $700 billion defense budget into areas that really matter, like artificial intelligence, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former deputy secretary of defense warned on Thursday.

“We should be prepared to be surprised” in any conflict with China, not only because it has invested heavily in modernizing its armed forces but also how it has invested in next-generation military technology, said former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work speaking at a forum sponsored by the Center for a New American Security.

To show how serious Beijing is, Work said Chinese President Xi Jinping set down a marker for his military to be able to successfully invade Taiwan by 2020 and 10 years after to that be the world’s leader in artificial intelligence.