# How China Caught U.S. AI — With Grace Shao

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-technology-podcast-197340/how-china-caught-u-s-ai-with-grace-shao
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-technology-podcast-197340/how-china-caught-u-s-ai-with-grace-shao.md
Podcast: [Big Technology Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-technology-podcast-197340)
Published: 2026-07-29T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/t7yC0rGPUqahTF4et8YD/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/AMPP6643892082.mp3
Audio file: https://pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/t7yC0rGPUqahTF4et8YD/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/AMPP6643892082.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/big-technology-podcast-197340/episodes/how-china-caught-u-s-ai-with-grace-shao
Duration seconds: 3673

## Resource

Grace Shao is the author of AI Proem. Shao joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss how Chinese AI labs have caught their American rivals despite operating with less advanced computing infrastructure. Tune in to hear how talent, specialization, open-source collaboration, and fierce competition helped models like Kimi K3 approach the U.S. frontier, and what that means for OpenAI, Anthropic, and the business of selling intelligence. We also cover model distillation, China’s compute constraints, the growing importance of AI products, why top researchers are returning to China, and the country’s emerging robotics advantage. Hit play for a clear-eyed look at whether the United States can preserve its AI lead. --- Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice. Watch the full documentary here: https://www.gravitee.io/ai-agent-documentary Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ⁠ironwall.com/BIGTECHNOLOGY⁠ and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/big-technology-podcast-197340/episodes/how-china-caught-u-s-ai-with-grace-shao/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-technology-podcast-197340/how-china-caught-u-s-ai-with-grace-shao.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.