With the release of DeepSeek R1 and renewed calls to ban TikTok and ByteDance in the U.S., it’s clear that geopolitical tensions are not just shaping but actively weaponizing the global technology landscape. DeepSeek didn't just match American capabilities; they did it with a fraction of the compute and budget. This exposes the uncomfortable truth: American tech has become bloated, inefficient, and expensive. We are throwing billions at problems that leaner, hungrier competitors are solving with millions.
It’s easy to frame this as a straightforward political rivalry—one that conveniently serves those in power. DeepSeek, an emerging AI threat. ByteDance, a national security risk. Chinese AI vs. American AI.
But as I witness this happen from the US and China, I feel that the reality is far more unsettling: America isn’t being outmaneuvered by foreign adversaries—it’s sabotaging itself.
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America is consolidating.
Decades of consolidations, mergers, and acquisitions have hollowed out both traditional tech and defense. When was the last time Apple shipped a groundbreaking product? How has Boeing consistently failed time and again to create reliable aircraft? Why are only five major defense companies left in the U.S? We let this happen—driven by greed, complacency, and an aversion to risk.
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The real drivers of innovation aren’t American.
They’re outsiders, visa holders, immigrants—those drawn to the U.S. by its research institutions and economic opportunities. But that doesn’t mean American-born talent is at the forefront. We need not just engineers, but talent in every job from all countries in the world. The scapegoat narrative to remove immigrants at almost every socioeconomic rung seems an ill-fated political distraction.
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American “Protectionism” (Greed)
The push to ban TikTok is less about national security and more about market allocation. When politicians act as kingmakers—deciding which apps stay and which go, benefiting domestic donors like Oracle—they aren't protecting the American public; they are insulating American companies from the very competition that forces them to innovate.
4. Social Immobility: America has only been around less than 300 years. As society continues to evolve, castes harden, not helped by any self-serving politician. Those who attend the Ivy League go on to land prestigious jobs and maintain a good network, those who don’t are worse off. These cycles repeat, repeat, and harden.
Economic stagnation, social immobility, and the hoarding of wealth are exactly what turned Europe into a museum for the world—preserving the past rather than building the future. Once the global leader in science, industry, and exploration, Europe now has little to show in the way of groundbreaking innovation. It maintains prestige, but not progress. Europe never ran out of talent, it ran out of nerve.
I don't just see this as a detached observer; I see it as the child of people who risked everything for the promise of the American edge. My parents came here a year before the Tiananmen Square protests— to seek refuge and opportunity. I grew up believing in the American Dream—the idea that innovation, hard work, and merit can propel anyone forward. But belief alone doesn’t build the future. People have to come and do the work, and see themselves to be rewarded. That belief needs to be based on reality.
The Cold War didn’t just provide an enemy. It provided a mirror. A mirror which we were able to look ourselves in the eye and ask if we were good enough. Today, we’re smashing the mirror instead of engaging in competition. We don’t need the paranoia of Warhawks and anti-immigrant sentiment. We just need the hunger of the underdog— the same hunger that brought my parents here, and the only thing that keeps American dynamism alive.