Are you old enough to remember the Space Race?
Well, if you are, then you already know this.
The Space Race was one hell of a turning point for humanity.
It started with two fateful events:
- In 1957, the Soviet Union catapulted the world’s first satellite — Sputnik — into orbit.
- Then, in 1961, the Soviets followed up by launching the first person — Yuri Gagarin — into space.
These events were seen as extraordinary at the time. They sent shockwaves through the American psyche:
- Was the United States falling behind the Soviet Union? Was space going to be dominated by the Reds? Was communism going to triumph over capitalism?
- This existential crisis struck a raw nerve. Public fear went into overdrive. This created a serious national conversation in the United States. About security. About ideology. About progress.
Of course, in hindsight, this wake-up call was a positive thing:
- The Americans responded to the fear by doing what they do best: swinging decisively into action. They unified politically. They re-organised themselves industrially. Then they threw everything they had into a new era of ambition and innovation.
- In 1962, President John F. Kennedy made a courageous promise: to put American astronauts on the Moon by the end of the decade. Ultimately, this was not just about national prestige, but the survival of Western liberal democracy itself.
- You might argue that such desperation was necessary. It became the best possible motivator for the United States. Creating the momentum for success. After all, nothing creates a sense of urgency more than lighting a fire under someone’s ass, right?
Source: Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL-E
Now, in 2025, it’s possible that we’re experiencing a similar moment of urgency. Another global tech race is happening. This one involves artificial intelligence:
- Over the past month, a Chinese company called DeepSeek has launched two generative AI models — DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1.
- Benchmark tests appear to suggest that these chatbots are matching their American counterparts in certain scenarios like mathematics and coding.
- For DeepSeek-V3, what’s astounding is that the Chinese have apparently achieved this on a shoestring budget of $5.58 million. Plus, here’s another remarkable claim: they reportedly did it with a development cycle of just two months.
This event sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley on January 27. Provoking a lot of national angst and soul-searching:
- Tech stocks reacted to this negative mood by selling off heavily. Most notably, Nvidia [NASDAQ:NVDA] lost a staggering $600 billion in market capitalisation. This was the biggest one-day drop for the company. Ever.
- Of course, the fear didn’t last very long. The market bounced back from this flash of anxiety. But, still, this event has left us with some thorny questions.
- Is the United States falling behind China? Is artificial intelligence going to be dominated by the Reds? Is communism going to triumph over capitalism?
- Well, history repeats and rhymes. There’s a perception of an existential crisis. This isn’t a great feeling — but it may be exactly what America needs to energise itself and compete on a higher level.
- So, let’s look beyond what the mainstream media is telling us. What’s true? What’s fake? What matters? Well, here are 2 Critical Signals you really need to watch out for as the race for AI heats up…
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