{
  "id": 18904116,
  "title": "Plugged in, not locked in: middle powers navigate US-China AI rivalry",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/plugged-in-not-locked-in-middle-powers-navigate-us-china-ai-rivalry-18904116",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-08T09:09:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3373682/plugged-not-locked-middle-powers-navigate-us-china-ai-rivalry"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Middle powers are navigating the US-China competition in artificial intelligence (AI) by favoring flexible partnerships over closed alliances, emphasizing a \"plugged in, not locked in\" approach. Alejandro Reyes, an adjunct professor at the University of Hong Kong, said that middle powers are exercising agency in the AI era, selectively partnering with both Beijing and Washington \"issue by issue\" rather than aligning with a single camp. Reyes argued that middle economies should pursue \"network sovereignty\" – maintaining domestic control over critical aspects closest to citizens, such as data, energy, and public-service AI, while diversifying upstream suppliers to prevent any single country from wielding monopolistic leverage.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}