The New Zealander helping the United States prepare for an artificial intelligence war with China

At Wander cafe in Auckland's Wynyard Quarter, someone at the next table is listening to Sean Gourley while he is being interviewed about artificial intelligence. After eavesdropping on the chat they get up, walk over to Gourley's table and tell him how scared they are. Gourley says most people think there is a 1% chance of war between China and the United States, but in his universe it is looking more like 50%. US defence and intelligence clients account for a large portion of the business Gourley's San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) company, PrimerAI, does – and right now business is booming. READ MORE: * Keeping up with the machines, new supercomputer will be NZ's most powerful for AI * Kiwis need to think about what they want from the age of AI, report says * 'Google should not be in the business of war', says employee after it drops Pentagon AI contract * While artificial intelligence is tipped to be'as significant as electricity', it's not coming for your job, yet ...