This isn't going to happen by recruiting people to work for government labs. It'll happen by contracting the work out to companies that are already doing top AI research (many of which also work in adtech) and through grand challenges that incentivize research teams and startups to make new breakthroughs.

Google, for example, would have gladly accepted Project Maven contracts if its own employees hadn't protested. If China does supersede the U.S. militarily, that may end up looking naive in retrospect.