The AI Policy Podcast Is China Done with Nvidia’s AI Chips?
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Sep 24, 2025 The discussion draws fascinating parallels between today's colossal AI investments and the historic Manhattan Project. China’s reported ban on specific Nvidia chips raises crucial questions about export control policies and domestic manufacturing capabilities. In a noteworthy legal battle, Anthropic faces a hefty $1.5 billion settlement over copyright issues related to book training. Meanwhile, the podcast highlights major AI investments by Nvidia and ASML, underscoring strategic moves in the evolving tech landscape.
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AI Spending Matches Manhattan Project Scale
- Private AI spending now rivals or exceeds the Manhattan Project in absolute and GDP-relative terms.
- Top U.S. AI companies project hundreds of billions to trillions in capital expenditures over several years.
Supercomputers Grew By Orders Of Magnitude
- Modern AI facilities grew from ~10k GPUs to hundreds of thousands and now approach gigawatt power draws.
- New chip generations multiply per-chip performance, producing orders-of-magnitude aggregate compute increases.
Domestic Makers Versus Users In China
- Chinese stakeholders disagree: makers/designers benefit from restrictions while large cloud users want the best foreign GPUs.
- That domestic demand tension shapes Beijing's chip policy.