2025 Wrapped: AI, China, and Our Next Big Steps

As we turn the page on a pivotal year for technology and national security, SCSP is taking a major leap forward. Today, we are excited to announce that in January 2026, we will launch our first-ever live show on our YouTube Channel.

This new platform will be your frontline resource for navigating the techno-economic competition, featuring real-time analysis on everything from AI breakthroughs to geopolitical maneuvering. To preview what’s coming, Ylli Bajraktari sat down in the studio with PJ Maykish, Joe Wang, and Ylber Bajraktari to deliver the verdict on 2025 and map the terrain for the year ahead.

If 2023 was the awakening and 2024 was the build-up, 2025 was the year the competition truly accelerated. Sitting down to reflect on the last 12 months, the group broke down the major shocks that defined the year:

• The DeepSeek Wake-Up Call: The year kicked off with China’s DeepSeek model outperforming U.S. open-weights—a moment PJ Maykish called proof that Beijing is “out-organizing” us. It shattered the illusion that America’s software dominance was untouchable.

• The “Thinking” Era Arrives: We saw the release of GPT-5.1 and Gemini 3.0 just weeks ago. These aren’t just chatbots anymore; with “thinking modes” and reasoning capabilities, they have moved from hallucinations to reliable research partners.

• The New Industrial Base: NVIDIA became the largest company in history this year, proving that the data center is the new factory. Meanwhile, the White House’s AI Action Plan and the recently signed “Genesis” document have finally moved the U.S. government from “diagnosis” to “programs”—mobilizing the nation like an Apollo project for the AI age.

SCSP’s Year in Review

2025 was also a landmark year for SCSP’s own work in fusing geopolitics and technology:

• Tech Leadership: PJ Maykish shared about the impact of our Fusion Commission and previewed the commissions we are launching in the year ahead.

• Global Partnerships: Joe Wang detailed the push to take the message global—from the Paris Action Summit to new Track 1.5 dialogues with Taiwan, India, and Israel—ensuring the “American Tech Stack” remains the global standard.

• Defense Evolution: Ylber Bajraktari highlighted the launch of Offset Evolved to update warfighting concepts for the AI era and the release of the Digital Case Officer report, exploring how the Intelligence Community can leverage AI for recruitment.

• Studios and Stages: We launched 3 new podcasts, released nearly 100 episodes, and reached a huge SCSP milestone: over 100K followers across all of our platforms. We hosted 8 milestone events: to include 6 AI+Summits, our second AI+Expo, and AI Unlocked in National Landing. Over 20K attendees joined us in making this an unforgettable year.

Predictions for 2026

The conversation wrapped up with three bold predictions for the year ahead:

1. The Year of Agentic AI: In 2026, models will transition from passive assistants to autonomous executors. This shift will trigger a massive productivity explosion.

2. The Brain as a Domain: Cognitive warfare is real. We will see adversaries increasingly weaponize AI to target individuals at a neurological level, making the brain the “sixth domain” of warfare.

3. Europe’s Reality Check: As China pushes cheap, “good enough” tech stacks globally, Europe will be forced to choose: rely on Beijing’s subsidized infrastructure or align with the American innovation ecosystem to avoid industrial irrelevance.

Want to see some of the data behind the year? This conversation is just one piece of the puzzle. For a complete look at the milestones, listener stats, and global reach that defined 2025, check out the SCSP Wrapped 2025 interactive page below.

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We are so grateful for the thousands of you who follow us on Substack, join us at our in-person events, and share our work within your own networks. Your support fuels our commitment to making sense of the ever-evolving techno-economic competition. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to continuing the conversation in 2026. Happy New Year!