The Indo-Pacific’s AI Talent War : Who will control the battlefield?
The recent entry of China’s DeepSeek model—causing disruptions in global AI supply chains like a Jenga tower collapsing—raises urgent questions about technological dependencies, digital sovereignty, and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
A seismic shift in the global AI landscape rattled stock markets on 28th February, 2025, as the Chinese startup model DeepSeek AI unveiled a game-changing model. With its low-cost and high-performing technology, it erased 1 trillion dollars from the Nasdaq’s market value and sparked fears about the US-dominated AI boom.
With this array of events, the Indo-Pacific has surely gone into a defense artificial intelligence race with its long-term aim to counter/deter China, but the critical question that arises here is, can the Indo-Pacific nations (altogether or separately) counterbalance China’s AI surge?
It is also significant to analyse the capabilities and possibilities this might hold.
According to the Australian Institute of International Affairs, China exemplifies guided innovation, committing the highest GDP percentage to national industrial plans, influencing policies like the US CHIPS Act. In contrast, Singapore and Australia take varied approaches—Singapore integrates AI into defense through collaboration, while Australia’s ASCA prioritizes military needs over tech development. Japan and India follow society-led strategies, focusing on civilian AI applications rather than military-driven advancements. As AI competition intensifies, these nations must weigh their fragmented approaches against China’s state-backed model to stay competitive in the race for technological dominance.
While China faces tough US technological sanctions, it is clearly not enough to hinder China’s growing AI defense capabilities. The best possible strategy is to jointly work on possible emerging capabilities of new defence AI technologies and respective models. One of the most recent examples of this strategic initiative was the AUKUS Pillar Two which mainly focused on advancing the capabilities of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. According to the CSIS report on this trilateral initiative, AUKUS could improve interoperability among its partners in realms such as electronic warfare (EW) and command and control (C2). In the longer term, AUKUS could catalyze the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies among its partners and into defense and security applications—but only if these countries act now to harmonize their approaches and consult experts.
While AUKUS is primarily a trilateral security partnership between the UK, the US, and Australia, it’s also significant for the US to bring more strategic cooperative initiatives, especially in the field of AI warfare and emerging technologies, with a more inclusive approach, bringing nations such as India, Japan, and Singapore to the table on an urgent basis.
Endnotes:
1. https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/the-indo-pacifics-artificial-intellige nce-defence-innovation-race/
2. https://www.csis.org/analysis/aukus-pillar-two-advancing-capabilities-united-states-united-k ingdom-and-australia