News - South China Morning Post
· collected 2026-09-04 · by Thomas O. Falk
The US government has adopted a new National Security Science and Technology Strategy, unveiled on August 18, which marks a shift in approach from resisting state capitalism to embracing it as a means of securing technological leadership. The strategy emphasizes avoiding direct competition with capable adversaries and instead focuses on investing in areas where the US can maintain an advantage. Key aspects of the plan include tightening scrutiny on foreign investment and research partnerships, ring-fencing strategic domains such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, and promoting alignment between government agencies and private industry. The strategy is part of a broader effort to reorient American science and technology policy towards statecraft rather than mere compliance with regulations.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The United States government has started to invest in and own shares of various companies, including Intel, Nvidia, and AMD, as part of a new approach to technological leadership. This marks a shift for the US, which had previously resisted state capitalism for 80 years. The US owns a 9.9% stake in Intel, worth an estimated $26.7 billion across about 30 companies. In another move, Nvidia and AMD agreed to give up 15% of their China chip sale revenues in exchange for export licenses. This change is outlined in the National Security Science and Technology Strategy, which was unveiled on August 18 and signals a new focus on using security policy to achieve technological leadership, rather than solely pursuing economic benefits.
Written for “China's Science Hacking Efforts” on 2026-09-05,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
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The country that spent four decades advising its allies against picking winners now runs a portfolio.
left criticizes past US policy of opposing state capitalism
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Countries do not redraw the board while they are winning. Washington has adopted the tactics of a fighter with reach who declines to trade blows in the clinch: keep it long, concede the inside, win where your arms are.
right describes US strategy as adopting defensive and cautious approach
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Research security has gone from a compliance chore to a branch of statecraft.
left frames research security in terms of national interest and state power
Leaning score +0.35 for article 3958 (high confidence, 3 verified quotes) · logged 2026-09-04
The US government owns
9.9 per cent of Intel, converted out of US Chips Act grants, alongside a
golden share in US Steel, US$400 million in the rare earth mining firm MP Materials and stakes in roughly 30 firms worth US$26.7 billion.
asserted
government → own → firms
In 2025, Nvidia and AMD
gave up 15 per cent of their China chip sale revenues in exchange for export licences.
asserted
Nvidia → give → licences
The country that spent four decades advising its allies against picking winners now runs a portfolio.
asserted
that → spend → portfolio
The United States has not fully turned to
state capitalism, but it has accepted something it resisted for 80 years.
asserted
it → turn → years
Technological leadership is a security objective in its own right, pursued with the instruments of security policy rather than an economic advantage that pays security dividends.
asserted
that → pursue → dividends
The National Security Science and Technology Strategy, unveiled on August 18 and the first such document bearing this name since Bill Clinton’s in 1995, is where that proposition appears in writing.
asserted
proposition → unveil → writing
Most of it reads as such documents often do.
asserted
documents → read → it
Then comes a sentence that gives away the game: the US should avoid contests where capable adversaries can readily counter its moves and should not spend on replicating what a rival
has already built better.
asserted
rival → come → what
Countries do not redraw the board while they are winning.
asserted
they → redraw → board
Washington has adopted the tactics of a fighter with reach who declines to trade blows in the clinch: keep it long, concede the inside, win where your arms are.
asserted
arms → adopt → inside
That is rational enough, and also what fighters do once they have felt their opponent’s power.
asserted
they → do → power
The rest of the document follows from that concession.
asserted
rest → follow → concession
Foreign investment, firms and personnel touching American research face tighter scrutiny, though
a presidential memorandum had already turned the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US against Chinese money in strategic sectors in February 2025.
asserted
memorandum → touch → February
Research security has gone from a compliance chore to a branch of statecraft.
asserted
security → go → statecraft
Three domains are ring-fenced for battlefield advantage – undersea, space, artificial intelligence and autonomy – above an enabling technologies list running through hypersonics, directed energy, semiconductors and nuclear energy.
asserted
domains → fence → hypersonics
The strategy document reaches furthest into American life through alignment.
asserted
document → reach → alignment
Agencies are steered towards milestone contracts with competing vendors, told to place federal money where it complements private capital rather than crowding it out, and to expedite clearances so expertise moves between laboratory, firm and department at commercial speed.
asserted
expertise → steer → speed
The universities enter the same architecture through vetting.
asserted
universities → enter → vetting
