First, They Ignore You

There’s something distinctly different in the US air these days when China comes up in conversation—something more curious than fearful, more expectant than dismissive. In a whirlwind of coffees and conference calls, I noticed investors asking about self-driving breakthroughs and satellite-to-phone systems, rather than rehearsing old lines about Taiwan or tariffs. Suddenly, the hot topic isn’t whether China’s economy will implode or if Beijing will lash out; it’s whether a new wave of AI, gaming, and robotics might upend what we thought we knew about global tech, trade, and education. What changed? Perhaps the better question is: what hasn’t?