Artificial intelligence and China's authoritarian governance

China has adopted a proactive and strategic approach to embrace the age of artificial intelligence (AI). This article argues that China's bold AI practices are part of its broad and incoherent adaptation strategy to governance by digital means. AI is part of a digital technology package that the Chinese authoritarian regime has actively employed not only to improve public service, but also to strengthen its authoritarian governance. China's digital progress benefits from its huge internet market, strong state power and weak civil awareness, making it more competitive than western democratic societies where privacy concern restricts their AI development. However, China's ambitious AI plan contains considerable risks; its overall impact depends on how AI affects major sources of political legitimacy including economic growth, social stability and ideology. China's approach is gambling on its success in (a) delivering a booming AI economy, (b) ensuring a smooth social transformation towards the age of AI and (c) proving ideological superiority of its authoritarian and communist values. © The Author(s) 2020