📰 Issue #4

The AI Cold War begins

Trump's 90-action AI Action Plan vs China's global cooperation proposal reshapes the geopolitical landscape

Issue #4 - July 30, 2025 | 8-minute read

🏛️ The new AI world order takes shape

This week reshaped the global AI landscape forever. Trump's comprehensive AI Action Plan launched with 90+ policy actions designed to cement U.S. dominance, while China countered with proposals for a global AI cooperation organization. Google expanded AI Mode to the UK, changing how millions search for information, and Adobe launched Harmonize—an AI tool that makes photo editing feel like magic.

We're witnessing the birth of the AI world order. Two superpowers, two visions: America's unilateral dominance versus China's multilateral cooperation. The decisions made this week will echo for decades, determining whether AI development follows competitive or collaborative paths.

This week's defining intelligence:

🇺🇸 Trump's 90-action AI Action Plan sets aggressive U.S. dominance strategy with infrastructure focus
🌏 China proposes global AI cooperation organization as alternative to American unilateralism
🔍 Google's AI Mode launches in UK, fundamentally changing how people search and find information
💰 Julius AI secures $10M to democratize data analysis with natural language processing

Let's decode the new power dynamics.

🚨 AI ALERT

The AI world order crystallizes

Trump Launches 90-Action AI Plan While China Proposes Global Cooperation—The AI Cold War Begins

On July 23rd, the Trump administration unveiled "Winning the AI Race: America's AI Action Plan" with over 90 federal policy actions across three pillars: Accelerating Innovation, Building American AI Infrastructure, and Leading in International Diplomacy. The plan prioritizes U.S. AI supremacy through massive data center construction, semiconductor manufacturing restoration, and aggressive technology exports to allies.

Just days later, at Shanghai's World AI Conference on July 26th, Premier Li Qiang countered with China's proposal for a global AI cooperation organization, emphasizing multilateral governance, shared safety protocols, and support for developing nations—a direct challenge to America's unilateral approach.

Why this reshapes the global AI landscape:

Two competing AI world orders emerge: The U.S. model prioritizes technological dominance through allied partnerships, while China advocates for inclusive multilateral governance that could appeal to Global South nations
Infrastructure becomes the new battlefield: Trump's plan removes regulatory barriers for data center construction and grid modernization, treating AI infrastructure as critical as highways—with environmental regulations loosened to accelerate deployment
Countries must choose sides: Nations will face increasing pressure to align with either the U.S. "full-stack AI export packages" or China's cooperative framework, potentially splitting the global AI ecosystem

Strategic implication: We're entering an era where AI capabilities, not just economic power, determine global influence. Companies must prepare for a bifurcated world where AI tools, standards, and partnerships depend on geopolitical alignment. The AI Cold War has begun.

🔍 TREND RADAR

Three forces reshaping AI this week

🔍 Search Revolution Expands

Google's AI Mode Launches in UK, Transforms How Millions Search

On July 28th, Google launched AI Mode in the UK, featuring dedicated search tabs powered by Gemini 2.5 for complex, multimodal queries. Users can now ask questions like "Edinburgh foodie itinerary with off-beat music spots" and receive AI-generated overviews with follow-up options, breaking queries into sub-questions via "query fan-out" techniques that support text, voice, and image inputs.

Why it matters: This signals the evolution from search-to-assistant, keeping Google competitive against specialized AI chatbots. SEO strategies must now optimize for AI-friendly content that can be surfaced in conversational responses, not just traditional blue links.

💰 Data Democracy Funding

Julius AI Raises $10M to Make Data Analysis Accessible to Everyone

On July 28th, Julius AI secured $10 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with backing from Perplexity's Aravind Srinivas and Twilio's Jeff Lawson. The platform has generated over 10 million visualizations for 2+ million users, positioning itself as a natural-language-driven analytics tool that democratizes data science capabilities for non-technical users.

Why it matters: This represents the shift toward verticalized AI tools that solve specific enterprise pain points. As companies drown in data but lack data science talent, natural language analytics tools could become as essential as spreadsheets.

✅ Trust & Safety Standards

First Ethical AI Certification Awarded as Industry Demands Accountability

On July 29th, Integral Ad Science became the first company to receive Ethical AI Certification from the Alliance for Audited Media, following comprehensive audits of disclosure practices, human oversight, privacy safeguards, bias mitigation, and risk management across their AI-driven advertising measurement products.

Why it matters: As AI infiltrates every industry, ethical certification is moving from academic debate to boardroom necessity. Expect a cascade of similar certifications across sectors, making AI governance a competitive advantage.

🔧 TOOL SPOTLIGHT

Game-changing tools launching this week

🎨 Adobe Harmonize (AI Photo Editing)

What it does: Powered by Firefly AI, Harmonize automatically matches lighting, color temperature, and visual style across multiple images in a single click

🏢 Real example: Fashion brands are using Harmonize to instantly match product photos across different photoshoots, reducing post-production time from hours to minutes while maintaining consistent brand aesthetics

💰 Business impact: E-commerce teams can now maintain visual consistency across thousands of product images without dedicated photo editors

🚀 Access: Available now for Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers as part of Photoshop 2025 update

💡 Pro tip: Use Harmonize's reference image feature to establish a "brand look" then apply it to entire photo libraries. The AI learns from your visual style preferences and maintains consistency across campaigns.

Also launching this week:

📱 Yelp AI Videos: Testing AI-stitched videos for local businesses—dynamic content creation from static photos and reviews

🎓 AI Resume Optimization: BYU's Class of 2025 reports 75% are using ChatGPT for job applications, aligning keywords with ATS systems

💡 PRO TIP

Navigate the AI world order shift

Position Your Business for the AI Geopolitical Split

Trump's AI Action Plan and China's cooperation proposal aren't just policy announcements—they represent the birth of competing AI ecosystems. Companies must prepare for a world where AI capabilities, partnerships, and market access depend on geopolitical alignment. Here's your strategic preparation framework:

The ALIGN Framework:

Audit Dependencies: Map your AI supply chain—models, cloud providers, data sources, and talent pipelines

Localize Capabilities: Develop in-house AI expertise to reduce reliance on any single geopolitical ecosystem

Internationalize Partnerships: Build relationships with AI providers from multiple regions to maintain flexibility

Governance Preparation: Implement compliance frameworks that work across different regulatory environments

Neutral Positioning: Avoid over-dependence on either U.S. or Chinese AI ecosystems where possible

This week's action: Conduct an AI dependency audit. List every AI tool, model, and service your company uses, identify their country of origin, and assess alternative options. Create a diversification plan now—before geopolitical tensions force hasty decisions.

Strategic insurance: Companies that maintain optionality across AI ecosystems will thrive regardless of which geopolitical vision prevails. Single-ecosystem dependence is the new single point of failure.

📊 BY THE NUMBERS

90+

Federal policy actions in Trump's AI Action Plan to accelerate U.S. AI dominance

$10M

Julius AI seed funding to democratize data analysis for 2+ million users

75%

Of BYU's Class of 2025 using AI tools to optimize job applications and resumes

⚡ QUICK HITS

🏛️ Policy: Trump's AI Action Plan includes removing environmental regulations to fast-track data center construction across Texas and other states

💼 Enterprise: Microsoft reportedly in advanced discussions with OpenAI to secure ongoing access to future models amid growing competition

🎯 Talent: Job market data shows 6.6% unemployment rate for recent graduates, driving massive adoption of AI resume optimization tools

📊 Analytics: Julius AI reports 10+ million data visualizations created by users, highlighting demand for natural language data analysis

💬 REPLY TO THIS EMAIL

I personally read every response. This week's question: How is your organization preparing for the AI geopolitical split? Are you diversifying AI dependencies or doubling down on one ecosystem? Hit reply and let me know.

Stay ahead,
Pranay
Founder, Infolia AI