America harms others but not itself (observatory), building "AI high walls" in the field | AI | America
Recently, the United States has launched new measures to suppress technology in China. According to US media reports, the United States is considering tightening export controls on artificial intelligence chips to China, prohibiting chip manufacturers from exporting chips to China and other related customers without a license. This move may involve Nvidia's current export of AI chips of models such as A800 and H800 to China.
Even more extreme is that in order to prevent Chinese companies from bypassing the ban on AI chips and obtaining American AI computing power through cloud services, the United States is also preparing to issue bans on companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, requiring these companies to obtain permission from the US government before providing cloud computing services to Chinese customers. American media believe that this move by the United States is aimed at "filling gaps" in its AI technology blockade network and comprehensively obstructing China's AI development.
Last October, the US Department of Commerce announced restrictions on China's ability to acquire advanced computing chips such as AI chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and advanced manufacturing processes. At that time, the United States also included 31 Chinese entities in the "unverified list" of export controls.
Various bans and lists are appearing like snowflakes, which is in line with the US government's recent practice of disrupting global supply chains. The "American logic" behind these actions is clear: the United States is a "judge" above international rules, with the power to wave arrows and make American technology companies "go where they want". However, these measures not only violate market rules, but also cause significant losses to the United States.
Currently, the world is accelerating the promotion of AI empowerment industries, and the emergence of generative AI and large models has brought new possibilities for industrial upgrading. In this context, cross-border economic and technological cooperation in the field of AI is becoming increasingly close. Both China and the United States are major players in the AI field, and their industrial cooperation is constantly deepening. According to a report released this year by the Technology Policy Group of Georgetown University in the United States, a total of 167 American investors participated in investments in Chinese AI companies from 2015 to 2021, with an amount of approximately $40.2 billion, accounting for 37% of the total financing of Chinese AI companies during the same period. According to the 2023 AI Index report from Stanford University, in the past 12 years, China and the United States not only have the largest number of collaborative research in the field of AI, but also have extensive cooperation between Chinese and American companies in the AI industry related to new energy vehicles and autonomous driving. However, the US government is focused on building a technology "small courtyard" and building an "AI high wall", insisting on cutting off normal economic and technological exchanges between China and the US, disrupting the global market order and greatly reducing the effectiveness of the industry university research projects being promoted by the US itself.
These "bad tricks" in the United States have also harmed the legitimate commercial interests of American enterprises, and even set limits on the development of the American AI industry. According to IDC, the size of China's AI market will exceed 14.7 billion US dollars in 2023 and 26.3 billion US dollars by 2026, making it one of the main markets in the global AI industry. According to data from the Semiconductor Industry Association of the United States, China's semiconductor product procurement in 2022 reached 180 billion US dollars, accounting for more than one-third of the global semiconductor procurement total, making it undoubtedly the world's largest market. Nvidia has recently made it clear that approximately 20-25% of Nvidia's data center revenue for the year comes from China. If the US government expands its export ban, it will affect Nvidia's operations and financial performance, and the US chip industry may forever lose the opportunity to compete in the world's largest market and compete for leadership.
The US government's attempt has been met with joint opposition from American AI companies. Recently, chip giants such as Intel, Qualcomm, and Nvidia gathered in Washington to oppose tightening export controls on chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China and urge the government to "stop.". The Semiconductor Industry Association of America has also issued a statement warning that the ban on Chinese chips may backfire on the United States itself.
The United States was once an advocate of the "open source spirit" in the field of technology, encouraging the openness and sharing of technological achievements. However, now it is enthusiastic about creating a "moat", ostensibly to "take risks" for itself, but in reality, it has embarked on an increasingly dangerous path.
Closed and conservative practices cannot bring about technological innovation. Only when a hundred boats compete for excellence and a hundred flowers bloom together can new technological breakthroughs be nurtured. Does the United States really not understand this truth?
