> This is about maintaining long-term leader position in military technology of which AI is a big part.

Yes, but this is part of the strategy to contain CCP while competing with it, deterring it from trying to take over Taiwan, preventing another Ukraine, which could be costly even if the war is won.

The strategy to compete with CCP, instead of co-operating (as a factory of the World and a reliable trade partner), became mainstream since 2018 or so, when CCP show that it wanted to challenge the current world order (see the China 2049 Initiative by Xi).