China in the Age of Artificial Intelligence The Machine State

Acknowledgements

List of Tables

Introduction

1 From Thinking Machines in Imperial China to the Information Age

2 Regulating the Future: Planning, Governance, and Control

3 The Power of the Algorithm: China in the Global AI Competition

4 Generative Revolution: DeepSeek and China’s AI Breakthrough

5 The Embodied Intelligence Revolution: Robotics and State Power

6 The Human Limit: Innovation, Education, and Systemic Constraints

7 A Fractured Future: Global AI Governance in a Divided World

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Biography

Łukasz Gacek is Professor of Political Science at the Institute of the Middle and Far East Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, where he heads the Department of China. His research focuses on contemporary China, particularly science and technology policy, artificial intelligence governance, strategic narratives, environmental and energy policy, and China’s role in the evolving global order. He has conducted extended research stays in China, including at Fudan University and Xiamen University, and has combined academic research with professional experience in China. He is the author and co-author of several books, including Nowy wspaniały świat…? Strategiczne narracje Chin reformy systemu globalnego zarządzania (2024), Taiwan under Tsai Ing-wen: Democracy Diplomacy (2022), and China’s Environmental Policy in Terms of European Union Standards (2021).

"Łukasz Gacek’s book is an essential read for anyone wishing to understand China's state-centric approach to the development of artificial intelligence. Rich in empirical detail, the monograph insightfully outlines the impacts of China's AI innovation on global governance and geopolitics."

 - Jeremy Garlick, Prague University of Economics and Business

"Few forces are reshaping the frameworks of global order as rapidly as artificial intelligence. And no country embodies this transformation more than China. Łukasz Gacek offers a rigorous, clear-eyed account of China's AI ambitions, while squarely confronting the hard questions of global governance that will shape all our futures. This is the book to read if you want to understand the stakes."

 - Emilian Kavalski, Tampere University

As artificial intelligence reshapes global politics, Łukasz Gacek offers a clear and insightful account of its development in China and the challenges it poses for global governance. A valuable read for anyone seeking to understand China’s technological rise and its wider implications.

 - Marcin Grabowski,  Jagiellonian University in Krakow