This article examines how artificial intelligence (AI) became framed as a critical node of U.S.–China strategic competition between 2015 and 2023, arguing that “hybrid epistemic experts” – figures who straddle technical expertise, corporate leadership and policy influence – played a decisive role in shaping elite understanding of AI. Through a critical review of policy documents, news media, public statements and institutional developments, this article examines how the “U.S.–China AI Race” narrative did not emerge along the usual pathways of state-driven, top-down bureaucratic processes or traditional lobbying but was actively constructed and amplified by figures like former Google executive Eric Schmidt. Schmidt’s role as a hybrid actor allowed him to translate AI from a narrow technological domain into an existential competition requiring massive policy investment. This overarching capability was driven by AI’s speculative, technically complex and general-purpose nature, which has concentrated knowledge production in private hands, enabling hybrid actors to achieve disproportionate influence over AI policy discourse. This phenomenon raises concerns about democratic governance, the collapse of independent expertise and the self-reinforcing dynamics between private power and public policymaking in emerging technologies.

This paper examines how the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are emerging as pivotal actors in the global race for frontier AI dominance, and analyzes the implications for U.S. strategic interests. It evaluates each country’s current position in the frontier AI development and deployment supply chain – detailing the UAE’s and KSA’s massive investments in AI infrastructure and connections with the USA, China and France – as well as the two Gulf states’ unique advantages in capital, energy and centralized governance. Gulf investments are reshaping global tech supply chains and could either strengthen or undermine U.S. technological leadership, depending on U.S. engagement. The paper recommends a proactive U.S. strategy to leverage Gulf AI ambitions while safeguarding national security. Recommendations include enforcing rigorous technical safeguards on Gulf-based AI infrastructure, tightening export control oversight to prevent diversion of advanced chips, joint targeted R&D investment initiatives, co-development of international AI standards, strict investment screening via the Committee on Foreign Investment in the USA and measures to prevent conflicts of interest.