The United States must triumph in the escalating “Cold War” against China for AI supremacy or risk a future where robots, powered by Marxist ideology, rule over Americans and the rest of the world, warned billionaire tech investor Marc Andreessen in a recent interview.

“There is a two-horse race. This is shaping up to be the equivalent of what the Cold War was against the Soviet Union in the last century. It is shaping up to be like that,” Andreessen, co-founder of the towering venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz, told Jack Altman of the Uncapped podcast this week.

.@pmarca to @jaltma: U.S.-China AI Race Mirrors Cold War with Soviet Union

“There is a two-horse race. This is shaping up to be the equivalent of what the Cold War was against the Soviet Union in the last century. It is shaping up to be like that. China does have ambitions to… pic.twitter.com/Q6ik8WSZLR

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 15, 2025

Andreessen predicted that AI will serve as the “control layer” for all aspects of society, from education and healthcare to transportation and law. The tech investor then raised the dangerous prospects of children being taught by Chinese AI, infused with Marxist principles and Xi Jinping’s ideology.

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“China does have ambitions to basically imprint the world on their ideas of how society should be organized, how the world should be run, and they obviously intend to fully proliferate their technology, which they’re doing in many areas,” the Trump-supporting Silicon Valley titan added. “The world, 50 years from now, 20 years from now, is going to be running on Chinese AI or American AI. Those are your choices.”

Andreessen predicted that AI will serve as the “control layer” for all aspects of society, from education and healthcare to transportation and law. The tech investor then raised the dangerous prospects of children being taught by Chinese AI, infused with Marxist principles and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ideology.

Andreessen’s comments echo those of fellow venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, who recently said failing to lead in AI could allow China’s authoritarian regime to impose its oppressive vision globally.

“China can use AI in cyber warfare or physical warfare on the battlefield, but the one I worry about even more is the economic power that AI will give a nation that moves fast and wins the race,” Khosla told X interviewer Mario Nawfal. 

“One you have economic power, I think it’s trivially easy by 2030 to imagine China providing free doctors to the whole planet, free tutors to every child on the planet, and using, essentially, free goods and services to spread their political philosophy.”

Khosla, who co-founded Sun Microsystems and later became one of OpenAI’s earliest backers through his venture capital firm Khosla Ventures, went a step further by China’s possession of powerful AI a potentially deadly threat to the world.

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: OPENAI’S EARLIEST INVESTOR —THE REAL AI THREAT ISN’T WAR, IT’S INFLUENCE

Forget missiles. The most powerful weapon China could wield with AI is influence.@vkhosla:

“By 2030, it’s easy to imagine China offering free doctors, free tutors—using AI-driven services… https://t.co/RnuW2yyI52 pic.twitter.com/OABuiQc1Da

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 22, 2025

“The biggest risk is AI in Chinese hands—or any bad hands. The more powerful the entity, the bigger the risk,” the Indian-American technologist said. “If somebody used a nuclear weapon, it’s verifiable. AI, when used, may not be verifiable.”

President Donald Trump has taken a series of steps to ensure the U.S. maintains its edge in the AI race against China. In January 2025, the president signed an executive order repealing Biden’s restrictive AI diffusion regulations, which blocked U.S. tech companies from sharing its innovations with allies. 

In May 2025, the Trump administration brokered landmark agreements with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, enabling the Gulf nations to acquire advanced AI tech, including tens of thousands of Nvidia semiconductors and investments in data centers critical for AI development. The UAE deal, valued at $200 billion, allows the import of up to half a million Nvidia chips, positioning the emirate as a hub for AI innovation. Saudi Arabia’s $600 billion agreement with the U.S. similarly focus on securing chips and fostering AI infrastructure.