On April 15th, Bloomberg reported that during an event hosted by The Wall Street Journal in Washington, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remarked that the United States currently maintains only a slim lead—roughly three to six months—in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI). While he sought to downplay the rapid pace at which China is catching up in AI technology, he also conceded that this is indeed the case. Bessent pointed to Anthropic's latest model, Mythos, as proof of America's continued leadership in AI innovation. However, it's worth noting that the US government is presently embroiled in a dispute with Anthropic regarding restrictions on the utilization of AI technology. According to the 2026 AI Index Report published by Stanford University, the US holds just a 2.7% advantage over China, with the performance gap between AI models from the two nations having nearly vanished, as both sides frequently exchange positions in terms of performance leadership.