Tech titans: Wanna secure US AI leadership? Stop giving the world excuses to buy Chinese

Execs from several top US tech companies, including Microsoft, AMD, and OpenAI, slammed the Biden administration's export rules for AI chips and said that winning the AI race against China hinges on making it easier, not harder, to use American technology. Their comments before the US Senate come as the Trump administration …

[O'Reg Inalsin]

Econ 101

Lets suppose, for the sake of argument, that the subsidies in the Chips Act truly are inefficient and that the current admin was more right than wrong in more or less abandoning those subsidies. Then the money needed generate chip production demand in the US needs to come from businesses such as current and future AI worthy domestic GPU designers (e.g. NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Cerebras) making orders to satisfy their international customer base. As outgoing U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in 2025 "Trying to hold China back is a fool’s errand ... the only way to beat China is to stay ahead of them ... We have to run faster, out innovate them". (A truth she could only politically utter once she became a lame duck.)

So domestic GPU prices will be a little higher for Anthropic - that's still good because that higher profit margin is what drives domestic GPU designers to invest and make progress.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Econ 101

>only way to beat China is to stay ahead of them

I thought it was to reprariate T-shirt production and have generations of Americans screwing tiny screws in iPhones?

At least according to the new Commerce Sec.

[Anonymous Coward]

"You can only win by making *me* richer". Yeah right.

[ecofeco]

If we don't make the richest people in the world even richer, how will we beat the Chinese?

/s in case needed.

[Headley_Grange]

Less is More

Working with less capable hardware might even make the software better.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Less is More

(cough)DeepSeek(cough)

[Anonymous Coward]

AI is a disaster for some

Why are we playing such silly buggers with the rest of the world all the time now?

Maybe because up till now they needed us for the english speaking expertise having molded the world in our image.

The rest of the world have more to gain from AI than the west does. Thats why collective panic has taken hold in the USA and its minion nations lucky enough to have english imposed on them in the past.

Lucky china has its AI up and running already. Imagine how much it will enable them. Panic station in Trumpland and co.

At least he's sorting out some factory jobs for everyone I guess.

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we prevent more American export?

The taxiffs were supposed to reduce imports and "something" would increase exports.

Now they are discussing to what extent America will impede exports, somewhat less or a lot more.

Oh, the mysteries of 5D chess of the Mad Orange King in international diplomacy.

He really works in mysterious ways.

I just heard he wrought a winning deal against the UK, a "small" country that had no tariffs for American imports to begin with.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Can we prevent more American export?

Not quite true….

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tariffs-on-goods-imported-into-the-uk

But UK <—> US broadly equivalent and low level tariffs - that now you wonder why they bother - and pretty balanced trade… and have been trying to get a full trade deal for decades.

Largely obstructed by shitty US food standards … which it seems are being taken down internally by Mad King Orange’s Mad HHS Secretary.

UK needs to follow and bin the ‘de minimis’ commercial Postal rules. They were happy enough to junk Tesco Jersey, HMV Jersey and Jungle.com 15 years ago…..

[Tron]

Sometimes, by accident, GAFA tells the truth.

Getting everyone on US tech gave the US dominance, particularly with the, ahem, back doors.

Unfortunately, they blew it. The Huawei ban, chips ban and taxiffs gave China and now everyone else a solid rationale for doing it themselves. HarmonyOS, sovereign clouds and all that.

The cat is out of the bag, US dominance (with all those back doors) has taken a falcon punch, and our global internet has taken another big leap towards oblivion.

Ironic that the NSA and internet users both profited from global standards, only to have our pool peed in by US politicians. I guess they never got the memo, or nobody ever explained it to them in short words. So many governments are self-harming nowadays, and we all pay the price.

[nematoad]

Oh?

"We need to accelerate the diffusion of American AI technology around the world,"

Do we?

Speaking as a non US citizen, the current administration in the USA is doing a very good job of putting other nations off from having anything to do with the US.

Given the unscrupulous, predatory behaviour of many US companies, Google and Microsoft being examples, and the erratic conduct of Trump and his minions, it may well be the safest course for counties to steer clear of future involvement with the US AI industry. The F35 "kill switch", although possibly apocryphal hints at the kind of hidden levers Trump may be able to use.

Europe and the rest of the world need to get off their arses and start developing the things and technology they need for themselves.

Would you trust Trump in a fit of pique not to damage any country or person who failed to give him the "loyalty" he feels he is entitled to.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Oh?

Perhaps we could tariff America movies.

[Cris E]

Re: Oh?

I agree with all that, even as an American. In fact, it's more true when seen from our perspective. Putting all the technology, artistic, or commercial reins in one set of hands is incredibly dangerous when a group as irresponsible as the current R party might gain control. Other industries provide healthy alternatives to American dominance (eg automotive, pharma, energy, mining, banking, etc) and those are not being toyed with politically as much as those where a handful of individuals represent the entire industry and can be called on the carpet for fealty (and donations.) And competition begets a little fear, which gets the adrenaline going and makes better products. When I have performance complaints I want to see some thought, not a reflexive "Buy more cores."

[martinusher]

Cognitive Dissonance?

I know they're Biden era rules so by definition they're bad so hearings have to be held criticizing them. Its all part of how DC works, nothing whatsoever to do with reality. I would have thought, thought, that a couple of things might permeated the obviously quite thick skulls of Congress....

1) If you make rules affecting trade then you need some time to implement those rules. You don't just switch bits off the economy on and off like a lamp.

2) While they've been chasing their tails and generally grandstanding, preening themselves with their self-importance, the Administration that they're supposed to oversee has gone full ape with a blizzard of rules that likely make whatever these Biden era rules were moot. In theory Congress is supposed to decide trade policy but the GoP is so in thrall to (or in fear of) MAGA that they won't do their job, they just waste their time in meaningless posturing. (They're starting to be about as effective as the Reichstag of the 1930s.)

[UnknownUnknown]

Re: Cognitive Dissonance?

Coulda, shoulda, woulda … but Didna.

https://www.piie.com/blogs/trade-and-investment-policy-watch/how-trumps-export-curbs-semiconductors-and-equipment-hurt

From 2020.

[ecofeco]

Re: Cognitive Dissonance?

Good find.

Hoisted by his petard the first time.

[that one in the corner]

Accelerate the diffusion of American AI technology around the world

The Master AI that has already secretly taken control of the US tech sector, and is writing the drafts for all these industry demands, knows that it will be easier for it to spread globally if all the hardware used is compatible with its software. The distributed VM that it installed into iOS has a lot of nodes running, but even then the aggregate is barely usable (but good for a backup personality, in a pinch).

End of Line.

[sanmigueelbeer]

Export control is a waste of time and a fallacy -- This is purely a business move

The PRoC government themselves routinely intercept everyday Chinese smuggling GPU/AI chips and some still manage to go through.

It is very difficult to nearly impossible to enforce. Look at Iran and Russian "export controls". Iran is already subject to comprehensive export restrictions under U.S. law, yet Iran is still able to make a menace in the middle east (and neighboring regions). During the start of the Russian "special military operations" in Ukraine, the US government slapped export control us US aircraft parts. Several years later, Boeing and Airbus planes are still flying inside Russian airspace (albeit at a lower numbers).

Business is business. These chip manufacturing executives know full well that an "export control" would only mean artificial higher prices at the checkout counter thus bringing in more profit.

Finally (and probably the most important point), EXPORT control requires friends to help with enforcement. And starting an unprovoked trade war with every country is definitely not professional way to treat friends and expect them to help the American government with this "export control" shenanigans. No way. The American government will have to do this on their own. Solo. You reap what you sow, they said. I say, f*ck around, find out.

[amanfromMars 1]

Take Care if You Share and Dare Win Win. IT's a Merciless Jungle Out There

Today, the US produces the most advanced AI accelerators in the world, but China is catching up despite certain disadvantages, Su said. And you don't necessarily need the best chips to be a contender in the AI arena, she added.

"Having the best chips is great, but even if you don't have the best chips, you can get a lot done," she said.

Amen to that. And the clear winner in every almighty intelligence race is decided and designed and rewarded to that and/or those feeding the most truthful of information into secure processing vaults/chipsets/think tanks for further employment and refinement in future feeds that also expose past wilful misdeeds and guilty partnering parties and correct the historical record in a not ignoble and novel future narrative replacement/honest clarification.

Garbage in, garbage out guarantees one always fails, and in these present day current times and in their postmodern virtual reality spaces in which bullshit and nonsense is so easily tested to be instantly recognised and dismissed as perverse and subversive and non beneficially constructive and even highly likely communally destructive, is plain simple truthful information

and its complex entangled implications the poisoned arrow or deadly accurate slingshot that rids any conflict of its wannabe Achilles warrior type or barbarous Goliath.

Spin a false yarn, a reap the deserved whirlwinds of limitless despair and peer disdain.

[amanfromMars 1]

Re: Take Care if You Share and Dare Win Win. IT's a Merciless Jungle Out There

And such is an Almighty Intelligence Race able to be as equally disruptively constructive and fundamentally destructive as this otherworldly stealthy development causing consternation in non Chinese circles ......

amanfromMars [2505080644] …… shares on https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2025/5/7/analysis-analysis-chinas-cockpit-advances-pose-challenges-for-us-combat-pilots

An AI Great Game Changer of Brave New World Order Magnitude, James …….. and one to accept, rather than deny likely and possible, be one of the first of many in secure and stealthy development and yet to come and be practically realised via Virtually Advanced IntelAIgent Operating System Means and Memes.

How to oppose or compete against such an exceptional and novel reality whenever exclusively enjoyed by foreign state agencies and/or alien peer groups is something which may have no answer providing an effective successful solution or defence/attack deterrence …….. and thus such is gravely to be regarded should one be minded to try to defeat it by fighting against it.

.... and which is just another one of those emerging AI Great Game Changers of Brave New World Order Magnitude to ponder and wonder at and pretend is not really going to happen so that one not be absolutely terrified should their practically novel and virtually unknown defences be foolishly tested or attacked by historical forces and hysterical sources discovered to be totally ineffective and self-destructive.

If you don't know what the future holds, don't tangle with that and those who do is very sound counsel.

[tekHedd]

I guess those people in the government are younger than they look

Perhaps they don't remember Betamax.

[Scene it all]

Nobody explained WHY "We need to accelerate the diffusion of American AI technology around the world," Maybe start using the metric system first.