Chapter 2 — Reflection & Commentary
Chapter two of AI Superpowers initially felt like fluff. But then it hit me — there’s deep value here if you peel back the narrative. Kai-Fu Lee sets up a stark contrast: idealistic American tech founders vs. pragmatic Chinese “copycats.” Surprisingly? I found myself respecting the copycats more by the end.
Is Copying Really a Sin?
The West loves its moral stories: innovators are saints, copycats are thieves. But let’s look closer:
- Microsoft rode on the back of MS-DOS — which it didn’t build from scratch.
- Apple borrowed heavily from Xerox PARC’s GUI.
- Facebook was a polished MySpace clone with better UX.
In other words: copying isn’t the crime — failing to execute is. In China, the playbook wasn’t that different. It was just more honest and more aggressive.
The Chinese MVP: Market First, Idea Later
“Lean startup” always felt like a Silicon Valley idea. But Kai-Fu Lee makes a compelling case that true lean startup culture came from China — born out of necessity:
- No capital.
- No mentorship.
- No room for failure.
They didn’t romanticize innovation. They shipped, adapted, and scaled. First copy, then master. It wasn’t elegant — but it was effective. Like with Chinese clocks centuries ago: they took Western mechanics and built something better.
And maybe — just maybe — that’s their nature. Not to overthink, not to speculate endlessly, but to act. Chinese entrepreneurs don’t want to philosophize about innovation. They want to work. They take a concept, replicate it, refine it, and make it better. They’re constantly in motion — not in search of genius ideas, but in pursuit of perfect execution.
Groupon, Its Collapse, and the War of 1000 Clones
I remember when Groupon was a thing — also in Poland. Reading how it fell apart made total sense:
- Massive discounts only worked once per customer.
- Deal hunters didn’t return.
- Local merchants hated the economics.
In China, over 500 Groupon clones launched. Meituan won by going beyond copying:
- It unified food, ticketing, and local services.
- It built an integrated superapp.
- It used data and ruthless execution.
Copying got them to the starting line — execution won the race.
American Firms in China: Blaming the System?
One thing that really stood out: many American tech giants failed in China. And their excuses? Predictable:
- “The government meddled.”
- “The regulations were unfair.”
- “The market is too different.”
But here’s my take — maybe the problem wasn’t China. Maybe it was:
- Rigid decision-making from headquarters.
- Slow, centralized management.
- Lack of local autonomy.
Instead of adapting, they blamed the system. That’s not strategy — that’s denial. Perhaps the real weakness wasn’t in Chinese policy, but in Western arrogance and inflexibility.
Final Reflection: Copycats Today, Titans Tomorrow
Maybe this isn’t a story about bad copycats and noble inventors.
Maybe it’s about:
- One side starting with a mission,
- The other with survival,
- And both arriving at impact — through different roads.
And perhaps there’s a deeper dynamic at play. The U.S. has been a civilization-level accelerator — driving humanity forward with breakthroughs. But China? They’re the pressure that keeps the accelerator’s foot on the gas. They’re the relentless counterforce that refuses to let the leader rest. They refine, scale, optimize. And in 2025, it’s getting harder to deny:
Chinese companies are no longer just catching up. In electronics, EVs, and AI — they’re competing, even overtaking. Once known for low price and low quality, now they offer low price and good quality.
Which brings me back to the old clocks — as described in the book. Jesuit missionaries once gifted intricate mechanical timepieces to Chinese emperors. Soon after, local craftsmen took them apart, studied them, improved them — and eventually surpassed the originals.
Maybe we’re seeing that same moment again. But this time, it’s not about clocks. It’s about the future.
So maybe the real question isn’t who invented first?
Maybe it’s: who kept improving until they became the best?