A Chinese academic has warned that China must fundamentally overhaul its innovation ecosystem or risk losing technological sovereignty and national security in an existential AI “knockout game” with the US. Huang Ping, assistant dean of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen)’s school of public policy, said the country must strongly back open-source artificial intelligence (AI) to counter costly, closed-source American models and their market dominance. In an online article published on Wednesday, Huang wrote that China must also implement “unconventional” reforms in cultivating and funding AI talent, as well as shift foundational research from bureaucratic state universities to leading tech enterprises. He noted that China’s foundational AI research and top-tier talent are confined within state-owned universities and public institutes, which rely on rigid, top-down bureaucratic metrics that stifle creativity. “The new system must position leading tech enterprises within each AI subsector as the primary drivers of talent cultivation and foundational research – completely breaking free from existing talent and scientific evaluation frameworks,” Huang said in the article published by GBA Review, a social media account run by the Institute for International Affairs, Qianhai, where he serves as deputy director.