The case of the Chinese trip taken by the Director General of Italy’s Agency for Digital Italy (AgID), first raised by Formiche.net and Decode39, cannot be reduced to an individual matter.
The broader point is different: technological independence has become a strategic asset on par with energy independence, and in the race for artificial intelligence, the United States continues to benefit from a structural advantage built around its universities.
Decode39 discussed these issues with Carlo Alberto Giusti, Rector of Link University and author of The American Club.
Q: The presence of AgID’s Director General at the Beijing event has sparked strong controversy, especially because it took place only two weeks after the signing of the Joint Statement of AI Opportunity. It now appears clear that this was an individual mistake rather than a government policy. How do you interpret the issue?
A: I would not enter into the controversy surrounding the participation of AgID’s Director General because, in fact, above AgID there is a higher governmental level and, given the sensitivity of the issue, what carries authority is the signature that Italy, through its envoy Ambassador Varricchio, placed in Washington, not the participation of AgID’s Director General at the Shanghai forum.
- I would only use this as an opportunity to point out how the attention devoted to geopolitical alliances in the field of artificial intelligence is now comparable to the attention paid to military conflicts, probably because it has become clear that the real source of independence is no longer only energy independence, but technological independence as well.
Q: For this reason, the development of artificial intelligence should not be viewed through a realist, short-term approach, but rather with full awareness of its almost “existential” value. It is precisely within this framework that the Pax Silica initiative takes shape. But what lies on the other side?
A: There is a substantial difference in approach. While Pax Silica is essentially an American attempt to build a fully Western technological perimeter, both in terms of values and governance, within which to develop this enormous platform together with its supply chain of rare earths and semiconductors, on the other side we find an Eastern world led by China that follows a completely different approach, one that is more focused on software, and therefore on everything related to the management of technology, rather than on the platform itself and the supply chain dedicated to building it.
- It is precisely this software management that may appear “frightening” to outside observers who are aware of Beijing’s democratic shortcomings. Entrusting a country such as China with the management of the world’s largest artificial intelligence engine could, and should, be regarded as a risk by governments that are considering joining that value-based model.
Q: This is therefore a confrontation that unfolds on levels far higher than political disagreements between individuals, such as the recent Trump–Meloni clash or disputes over specific issues?
A: There is no doubt about that. Relations between Washington and Rome are one element of that “shared value” that the entire West, and our country above all, must defend with every possible effort. The Atlantic Alliance is not only about collective defense through the use of military instruments under Article Five; it is also about the sharing of values. In this sense, being part of a Western framework for artificial intelligence means adding another building block to continue constructing something for the long term, looking beyond this moment in which the traditionally strong diplomatic relations between the United States and Italy are being tested.
- This is how the signing of the Joint Statement of AI Opportunity should be understood. Pax Silica is an essential element in the construction of that great building which, tomorrow—if not already today—will oversee the management of enormous flows of information and everything that is currently entrusted to individual governments, and which, just like the alliance in terms of military protection, must necessarily provide for this kind of cooperation.
- Naturally, U.S. leadership, especially under the current circumstances, means that other countries are invited to participate while control remains in American hands. This is a perspective that may change as scenarios and balances evolve, both within and beyond the United States.
Q: After all, the United States has been the great incubator of this technology. In your book The American Club, you discussed the uniqueness of the American academic world, a uniqueness that in many ways made the birth of artificial intelligence possible. How might this uniqueness shape the future development of the technology?
A: It is true that there is a unique quality to the American academic world that made the emergence of artificial intelligence possible. America’s leading universities have long possessed research facilities, laboratories, resources, and above all a level of human capital that is unmatched anywhere else.
- Even in light of China’s growth in research and development, the gap remains significant because American universities continue to represent the ultimate destination for researchers from all over the world. This is not about endorsing the values currently expressed by the United States—that is not for me to say.
- Rather, it is about acknowledging a simple fact: the research infrastructure and capabilities of American universities have no equal anywhere else in the world. And this factor will continue to weigh heavily on the future development of the technology.
