Can someone paint a picture of what “losing the AI war” to China looks like

I keep seeing the AI race framed this way and im trying to grasp what the real life ramifications would be and if it’s as critical a situation as some would have you believe. Is this more of an economic thing or national defense issue, or what if it’s extremely close?

I know we’ve been trying to kneecap China restricting their access to chips, but if it all eventually comes down to energy production then how is it even a discussion? We dont appear to be anywhere near Chinas capabilities in that department