AI, Semiconductors, and Geopolitical Competition: The New Strategic Resources of Global Politics

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors are emerging as strategic resources that are reshaping the distribution of power in global politics. This study examines how control over AI, advanced semiconductors, computing infrastructure, and critical technological supply chains influences economic competitiveness, military capabilities, technological sovereignty, and geopolitical leverage. Using a qualitative research design based on academic literature, international reports, government policies, and industry evidence, the study integrates neorealism, geo-economics, weaponized interdependence, and dependency theory to analyze contemporary technological competition. The findings demonstrate that AI power is fundamentally dependent on advanced semiconductor and computing capabilities, while the global semiconductor value chain remains highly concentrated in a limited number of states and firms. The U.S.–China rivalry illustrates how export controls, industrial policies, technological alliances, and supply-chain diversification have transformed technological interdependence into an instrument of geopolitical statecraft. The study further identifies an emerging technological North–South divide, as developing countries remain dependent on foreign AI infrastructure, advanced chips, capital, and expertise. To explain these dynamics, the study proposes Technological Strategic-Resource Theory, arguing that states controlling critical technological capabilities and chokepoints possess disproportionate economic, military, and geopolitical power. The study concludes that complete technological decoupling is unlikely; instead, global politics is moving toward managed technological interdependence, strategic competition, and increasingly fragmented technology ecosystems.