US Chipmakers Fear Ceding China's AI Market to Huawei After New Trump Restrictions (msn.com) 28
The Trump administration is "taking measures to restrict the sale of AI chips by Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Intel," especially in China, reports the New York Times. But that's triggered a series of dominoes. "In the two days after the limits became public, shares of Nvidia, the world's leading AI chipmaker, fell 8.4%. AMD's shares dropped 7.4%, and Intel's were down 6.8%." (AMD expects up to $800 million in charges after the move, according to CNBC, while NVIDIA said it would take a quarterly charge of about $5.5 billion.)
The Times notes hopeful remarks Thursday from Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, during a meeting with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. "We're going to continue to make significant effort to optimize our products that are compliant within the regulations and continue to serve China's market." But America's chipmakers also have a greater fear, according to the article: "that their retreat could turn the Chinese tech giant Huawei into a global chip-making powerhouse." "For the U.S. semiconductor industry, China is gone," said Handel Jones, a semiconductor consultant at International Business Strategies, which advises electronics companies. He projects that Chinese companies will have a majority share of chips in every major category in China by 2030... Huang's message spoke to one of his biggest fears. For years, he has worried that Huawei, China's telecommunications giant, will become a major competitor in AI. He has warned U.S. officials that blocking U.S. companies from competing in China would accelerate Huawei's rise, said three people familiar with those meetings who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
If Huawei gains ground, Huang and others at Nvidia have painted a dark picture of a future in which China will use the company's chips to build AI data centers across the world for the Belt and Road Initiative, a strategic effort to increase Beijing's influence by paying for infrastructure projects around the world, a person familiar with the company's thinking said...
Nvidia's previous generation of chips perform about 40% better than Huawei's best product, said Gregory C. Allen, who has written about Huawei in his role as director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But that gap could dwindle if Huawei scoops up the business of its American rivals, Allen said. Nvidia was expected to make more than $16 billion in sales this year from the H20 in China before the restriction. Huawei could use that money to hire more experienced engineers and make higher-quality chips. Allen said the U.S. government's restrictions also could help Huawei bring on customers like DeepSeek, a leading Chinese AI startup. Working with those companies could help Huawei improve the software it develops to control its chips. Those kinds of tools have been one of Nvidia's strengths over the years.
TechRepublic identifies this key quote from an earlier article: "This kills NVIDIA's access to a key market, and they will lose traction in the country," Patrick Moorhead, a tech analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, told The New York Times. He added that Chinese companies will buy from local rival Huawei instead.
The Times notes hopeful remarks Thursday from Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, during a meeting with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. "We're going to continue to make significant effort to optimize our products that are compliant within the regulations and continue to serve China's market." But America's chipmakers also have a greater fear, according to the article: "that their retreat could turn the Chinese tech giant Huawei into a global chip-making powerhouse." "For the U.S. semiconductor industry, China is gone," said Handel Jones, a semiconductor consultant at International Business Strategies, which advises electronics companies. He projects that Chinese companies will have a majority share of chips in every major category in China by 2030... Huang's message spoke to one of his biggest fears. For years, he has worried that Huawei, China's telecommunications giant, will become a major competitor in AI. He has warned U.S. officials that blocking U.S. companies from competing in China would accelerate Huawei's rise, said three people familiar with those meetings who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
If Huawei gains ground, Huang and others at Nvidia have painted a dark picture of a future in which China will use the company's chips to build AI data centers across the world for the Belt and Road Initiative, a strategic effort to increase Beijing's influence by paying for infrastructure projects around the world, a person familiar with the company's thinking said...
Nvidia's previous generation of chips perform about 40% better than Huawei's best product, said Gregory C. Allen, who has written about Huawei in his role as director of the Wadhwani AI Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But that gap could dwindle if Huawei scoops up the business of its American rivals, Allen said. Nvidia was expected to make more than $16 billion in sales this year from the H20 in China before the restriction. Huawei could use that money to hire more experienced engineers and make higher-quality chips. Allen said the U.S. government's restrictions also could help Huawei bring on customers like DeepSeek, a leading Chinese AI startup. Working with those companies could help Huawei improve the software it develops to control its chips. Those kinds of tools have been one of Nvidia's strengths over the years.
TechRepublic identifies this key quote from an earlier article: "This kills NVIDIA's access to a key market, and they will lose traction in the country," Patrick Moorhead, a tech analyst with Moor Insights & Strategy, told The New York Times. He added that Chinese companies will buy from local rival Huawei instead.
Donald's move (Score:3)
You start by making a thoughtless move.
And then you spend the rest of the game defending yourself tooth and nail to limit the damage.
But inevitably, you lose in the end.
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They'll have one in 3, 4 or 5 years, it is inevitable.
The question is not if, but when.
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that some heinous haiku
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then you spend the rest of the game defending yourself tooth and nail to limit the damage.
You're being optimistic. The Donald doesn't play chess, or limit the damage.
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No, he still hasn't figured out he put his chess pieces on a backgammon board.
Re: Donald's move (Score:2)
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Motherfucker thinks he's playing tic tac toe, but it's actually international trade relations.
Re: Donald's move (Score:2)
This happens when grandmasters play. And it's not the case in the current geopolitical scene.
the problem (Score:3)
China would just buy up all of Nvidia's inventory if it were available to them. They would spend State money on it, massively subsidize AI development like the other sectors they have focused on, and flood markets with cheap solutions. And then there is the military threat. China has ambitions on all neighbors and would use the tech to hamstring them politically and economically.
No doubt they will make progress without top shelf gear at present, but that doesn't mean they should get it.
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>> Even on Taiwan China shows restraint
Massive military buildup, frequent invasion exercises, China would take Taiwan if it were at all feasible. China is expansionist and a military threat along with its only allies, North Korea and Russia.
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China would take Taiwan if it were at all feasible
Out of curiosity, what makes taking Taiwan unfeasible at this point? (traditionally Taiwan was protected by the threat of US military retaliation, but our current POTUS has shown he is always willing to "make a deal" and sell out his allies for whatever 30 pieces of silver his heart is currently set on, so that hardly seems like an obstacle anymore)
Re: the problem (Score:2)
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>> Even on Taiwan China shows restraint
Massive military buildup, frequent invasion exercises, China would take Taiwan if it were at all feasible. China is expansionist and a military threat along with its only allies, North Korea and Russia.
I'm not sure China cares about taking Taiwan. There's not much on Taiwan that would benefit China, aside from TSMC, which the US would destroy or incapacitate if the Chinese invaded. Taiwan's true value is as a unifying distraction that turns the ire of the Chinese masses toward something other than the CCP. Same thing with the falun gong. In a way, Taiwan and the falun gong serve a similar purpose to WWII Jews and current US immigrants.
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Get out the tiny violin (Score:3)
All the tech bros and billionaires backed Trump and now he's fucking them royally.
No, the leopards certainly won't eat MY face.
Like the saying goes, the dildo of consequences rarely arrives lubed.
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So we need to find a candidate who will seek out and take the counsel of people who are smart in this field.
Re: Get out the tiny violin (Score:2)
The samid touch (Score:3)
Simon Hoggart once wrote of a UK politician "Colleagues suspect he has the Samid touch, which is the reverse of Midas – everything he touches turns to dust."
That is certainly true of Trump and his coterie. It's just an endless series of making everything worse: sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident, but always a single direction, downhill.
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More like shit Midas.