But it is also pursuing a quieter route. Chinese companies are putting AI into cars, robots, cameras, smartphones, appliances, and industrial equipment already manufactured at an enormous scale.“Made in China” once meant where the hardware was assembled.
Increasingly, origin also involves who wrote the software, where the data travels, and who can update the product after it has been sold. The product’s identity is no longer settled when it leaves the factory. Software provenance is becoming a second country of origin. The border has moved inside the machine.