US commentators are realizing China has pulled ahead in key technologies, which is bad news for American economic dominance and the old story that China only copies.

• Fox News reporters in Beijing showed humanoid robots serving customers in convenience stores, clean modern cities, and instant traffic enforcement.
• China is now ahead in humanoid robots, electric vehicles, solar panels, high-speed rail, and AI models that run more efficiently than US versions.
• Chinese chip self-sufficiency is set to jump from near zero to near total within ten years, undermining the US strategy of restricting chip exports.
• Chinese citizens accept heavy digital surveillance because the government keeps delivering rising living standards, while most Americans see their own cities and infrastructure decaying.
• The Iran conflict is pushing more countries toward Chinese solar and renewables to avoid being squeezed by oil shocks, helping China further.

Outlook: The US is heading into a long rivalry with a peer competitor that matches it economically and technologically, a situation it has never faced before.