AI’s next frontier, world models, and why China is ahead of the pack

They’ve been described as the “next frontier” of artificial intelligence (AI) – world models that go beyond large language models (LLMs) by simulating the physical environment. And in this emerging field, China has an edge over the United States. World models that understand the physical laws of the universe are already being used to train AI systems with embodied intelligence such as robots and self-driving vehicles. China has deployed such systems far more widely than the US – and this month,...