By
Mas Arsyarrahman Setiawan
Africa-Press – Lesotho. Artificial Intelligence: Born from Globalization, Live to cause De-Globalization
Nowadays, artificial intelligence,or AI, seems to be an inseparable part of human lives. AI is not only used on a macro scale, such as in the e-ticket system to punish road rule violators, factories, or others. AI is also used on the micro scale by individuals. We can directly open AI apps and write prompts such as “Make me a poem about love” or “Draw me a picture of bombardier crocodile”. AI is undoubtedly a part of our everyday life, and we can even find inspiration for research topics just using AI.
The development of AI itself cannot be separated from globalization. More specifically, the development of AI-supporting devices such as computer chips or semiconductors is a result of globalization and the global supply chain. According to research conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, 91% of the world’s semiconductor sales are located in only 5 countries: the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. The supply chain of semiconductors, from designing to packaging, is also heavily intensified in these five countries. While major technology cooperation that designs and needs semiconductors is located in the United States or other Western countries, the assembly of semiconductors happens in East Asian countries such as China and Taiwan. Thus, East Asian countries are reliant on the United States for semiconductors since semiconductors that have been manufactured in Taiwan, for example, need to be sent to the United States first before being sold worldwide (Thadani & Allen, 2023). Although this is just a simple picture of the whole global semiconductor industry, it shows that the development of AI and its devices cannot be separated from globalization.
Currently, the United States successfully places itself as the global AI leader. According to the 2023 Stanford’s AI Index Report, the United States is leading with a total score of 70.06. China is trailing behind with a total score of 40.17, and in third place is the United Kingdom with a total score of 27.21 (Gupta, 2025). The United States and China are in the race to be the leader in global AI development. Although previously I have mentioned that the development of AI is caused by globalization, what if I tell you that the existence of AI can cause deglobalization? What if the race between the United States and China can cause the world to be disconnected? Then if it was true, what is the future of AI then? These questions I will try to answer in this writing.
Understanding Deglobalization
Everything that exists must have an opposite side, so does globalization. In this part, I will try to explain what deglobalization is and how it affects the world, especially in international trade.
If globalization is marked by the expansion of the world’s economy, politics, and social and cultural links, then de-globalization is a complete opposite of it. According to Professor Markus Kornprobst and Jon Wallace, de-globalization refers to a series of attempts to make a world less connected that are characterized by powerful nation-states, the rise of nationalism and local solutions, and stricter border control among states (Kornprobst & Wallace, 2021).
De-globalization itself is a reversed process that tries to limit interaction and integration of national economies while promoting nationalist policies. In the international trade sphere, while globalization promotes the elimination of trade barriers and free trade for all, deglobalization promotes stricter trade restrictions and protectionist policies such as tariffs, local content requirements, and inward investment. The cause of deglobalization varies from nationalist-centered foreign policies, the rise of populism, or international crises where states tend to help themselves first. De-globalization can be said to be underway. This can be seen from several previous policies made by the United States, such as the United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021, which aims to reduce the dependence of the United States on Chinese manufacturing, or the 2022 Commerce Implements New Export Controls on Advanced Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing Items to the People’s Republic of China, which will be the main focus of this article. De-globalization is not necessarily bad. Putting too much reliance on the global supply chain can cause major drawbacks, such as what happened during the Covid-19 pandemic when countries that did not have the capabilities to produce vaccines or medical equipment suffered worse than countries that did (Paul, 2023). In some sort, it is necessary to protect and develop key national industries for the sake of national security. However, some attempts that tend to disconnect many countries in this modern era, where everything is connected to each other, can cause global disruption and instability. Foreign policy works like a domino; when one acts, others get affected. If one country decides to enact a de-globalization type of foreign policy, then other countries will feel the effect or even pay the price of it. This is what I mean by global disruption and instability.
The US-China “AI” and Trade Wars: Proof of De-Globalization?
When we talk about the “AI war” between the United States and China, we first must look back to the 2018 trade war, where the United States began to impose 10 to 25 percent tariffs (Stanford University, 2023) on Chinese goods worth about USD 450 billion. China then retaliated by imposing similar tariffs on US exports such as livestock, agriculture, and automobiles (Swanson, 2018). At first, the tariff war only applied to mass-produced and manufactured goods. However, it quickly expanded to other sectors, such as electronic products, which include semiconductors. A semiconductor, also known as a chip, is a set of electronic circuits that has the function to conduct or block the flow of electricity. Semiconductors exist in every electronic device worldwide, including computers (ASML, 2022) (Kubota, 2023).
In October 2022, during the Biden presidency, the United States enacted a new export control of semiconductors to China titled “Commerce Implements New Export Controls on Advanced Computing and Semiconductor Manufacturing Items to the People’s Republic of China.” According to some United States officials, as reported by CSIS, this export control aims to curb China’s development of advanced AI by cutting off advanced semiconductor sources and manufacturing equipment. The United States sees that if China manages to acquire or develop a highly advanced semiconductor that could benefit Chinese-made AI, it would be a threat to the United States’ national security. Thus, it is necessary to impose new trade restrictions on China. These export controls are then strengthened in October 2023, December 2024, and finally in March 2025. Semiconductor export controls have led to a significant rise in semiconductor prices in China. China, however, retaliated by helping Chinese companies to develop their own Chinese-made semiconductors (Shivakumar et al., 2025). This export control also causes a major blow to the American companies. Nvidia, a major United States’ semiconductor company, reported a 6% drop in their shares after the 2025 export restrictions were announced. Nvidia generated around 13% of their revenue, or USD 17 billion, from China in 2023 with major orders from Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance. With the export control that continuously has been strengthened, Nvidia worries that they will lose their Chinese market to Chinese companies such as Huawei (Potkin & Mo, 2025).
Technology is not politically neutral. Thus, the development of technology will affect the dynamics of politics as well. From that illustration, we could clearly see how AI can cause major international trade and political turbulence. As the global leader in AI and digital technology, the United States certainly will want to maintain their position as hegemony and not let other countries take over their place. However, China’s rapid development of AI and possibly China’s capability to provide more affordable semiconductors made the United States feel threatened. The United States clearly frames China as a threat not only to their national security but also to international security by accusing them of stealing and mining user data for their own good.
This is not the first time this has happened, as the United States has also accused TikTok, a Chinese-made social media platform, of stealing US citizens’ data for use by the Chinese government. Feeling that they need to preserve their national dignity and sovereignty, the United States then imposes those semiconductor export controls on China. Gina Raimondo, former United States Secretary of Commerce, even commented that these were the strongest export controls ever created by the United States (Liu & Lyngaas, 2024). However, in a globalized world where international trade is considered essential for all states, the imposition of strict trade barriers is a violation of the spirit of free trade that originated in, you guessed it, the United States of America. Thus, I argue that now we are moving or could probably move to a new phase, and that is deglobalization. What makes it funny is that the development of technology and AI was boosted by globalization with cross-border cooperation from many individuals and experts. However, the existence of AI turns out to be the antithesis of globalization, which is de-globalization.
The Future?
With the United States’ announcement of reciprocal tariffs this April, it seems that technology and its development will be in crisis. Some states may have the capability to develop their own semiconductors and AI. However, what about the others, such as the Global South, which generally do not have much money to fund their own AI or its supporting components? Back then, international cooperation between developed and developing states was always glorified as necessary for all states to prosper, especially in the more interconnected world. With the recent cases that happened between the two big giants—China and the United States—it seems that international cooperation that will benefit both developed and developing countries will come into disarray. I may sound pessimistic, but are there any better alternatives? Are globalization and international cooperation still relevant? Or we now have to face the truth that at the end of the day, ego always wins.
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