New Delhi, Oct. 18 -- If you run an AI company that must raise capital, it is in your interest to hustle investors into signing cheques to buy into the idea that whoever gets to artificial general intelligence (AGI) first will have something akin to an eternal global monopoly.

If you run a country whose economy or equity boom depends on such companies, you might see it in your interest to declare that AI is a race. Or if you derive prestige by demonstrating that you have technology comparable with what the incumbent superpower has, then you too have an interest in announcing that you are a challenger in the AI race.

None of this, however, means that artificial intelligence technology is a race. A few drivers could well race each other o...