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COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

Commentary: The AI Arms Race Isn’t a New Manhattan Project

By Adam Tooz
Published: Oct. 8, 2026  11:19 p.m.  GMT+8
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What is unprecedented about the current threat of AI is that it was born in the private sector. Photo: IC Photo
What is unprecedented about the current threat of AI is that it was born in the private sector. Photo: IC Photo

To describe the current AI race, the most popular historical analogy is the nuclear arms race. Donald Trump’s White House has explicitly linked its “Genesis Mission for AI” to the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort that developed the first atomic bombs.

This historical association is meant to project urgency and drama while offering a reassuring sense of national resolve. But invoking Los Alamos sanitizes the genuine peril of our current moment.

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