China’s AI Edge and the Cold Truth About “Cool Tech”

At XPONENTIAL 2025, a Former Intel Official Drops Hard Lessons for Autonomy Innovators

At XPONENTIAL 2025—AUVSI’s marquee event in Houston this week—over 7,500 attendees from 60+ countries gathered to dissect the future of autonomous systems. But beneath the buzz of drone demos and robotic swarms, a sobering thread emerged: the U.S. is losing ground to China’s strategic playbook, and flashy tech alone won’t close the gap.

“China’s advances are remarkable, undeniable, and daunting,” warned Sue Gordon, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, during her keynote. “They have a plan. We have a marketplace.”

Gordon, alongside geopolitical strategist Dr. Rush Doshi, framed autonomy as a battleground where mission clarity trumps innovation theater. Her advice was blunt: stop fetishizing “cool tech” and start solving real problems. “If your AI can’t explain how it aligns with a soldier’s needs or a port’s security gaps, it’s just a very expensive toy,” she said.

The Cybersecurity Triple Threat

Gordon drilled into cybersecurity’s layered risks, urging companies to audit vulnerabilities across three fronts: physical (think hardware tampering), technical (software backdoors), and cultural (workforce training gaps). “A drone with perfect encryption won’t help if the operator clicks phishing links,” she noted. The takeaway? Defense isn’t a checkbox—it’s a culture.

Supply Chains: The Silent War

With 85% of rare-earth minerals for autonomy tech controlled by Beijing, Gordon called for “allied-first” sourcing and contingency plans. “Know where every capacitor comes from,” she stressed. “If your supply chain snaps during a crisis, your brilliant algorithm is wallpaper.”

“Situational awareness isn’t a feature—it’s the product. Whether you’re selling to Jakarta or Jacksonville, they’ll pay for the ability to see threats coming.”

Her warning to startups? Don’t let VC hype blind you. “I’ve seen teams burn $20 million building ‘autonomous’ systems that fail basic interoperability tests,” Gordon said. The fix? Embed with end-users early—and lobby Washington. “Policy shifts move markets faster than any algorithm.”

As the session closed, one message lingered: in the race against China’s state-backed juggernaut, America’s edge won’t come from better sensors. It’ll come from smarter strategy.