ChinaTalk EMERGENCY POD: H20s to China + 15% with Chris Miller and Lennart
54 snips
Aug 13, 2025 
Chris Miller, author of Chip War, and Lennart Heim, a RAND analyst, dive into the complexities of AI chip sales to China. They discuss the tradeoffs and strategic implications of selling advanced technology amidst rising tensions. The conversation highlights why China seems uninterested in the H20 chips and emphasizes the importance of high-bandwidth memory and semiconductor equipment in this geopolitical chess game. The duo explores the intricate relationship between technology policy and international relations, shedding light on the future of U.S.-China tech dynamics.
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H20: Designed To Exploit Control Lines
- The H20 was designed to fit below export-control lines by maximizing uncontrolled memory bandwidth while capping flops.
- Leonard Heim argues this made it export-control compliant yet highly deployable for inference tasks in 2024–2025.
Trump's 15% Deal And 'Obsolete' Line
- Jordan reads President Trump's remarks describing the H20 as 'obsolete' and recounting his negotiation for a 15% revenue share.
- The president framed the deal as a national concession and compared it to selling downgraded fighter jets.
Memory Bandwidth Beats Flops For Deployment
- H20 is far weaker on raw compute (flops) but strong on memory bandwidth, giving 4 TB/s due to six HBM units.
- Heim says this makes H20 effective for inference and deployment despite being worse for training.
