Liu Peilin and Han Wei in Caixin Global:
A global race to dominate artificial intelligence (AI) is driving an unprecedented semiconductor spending spree, pitting America’s strategy of massive capital investment against China’s urgent push for self-sufficiency in the face of U.S. sanctions. The chase for AI supremacy has turned chipmakers in both countries into red-hot investment targets.
Over the past month, U.S.-based OpenAI, the world’s largest AI startup, has signed procurement deals with three semiconductor giants — Broadcom Inc., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), and Nvidia Corp. The combined orders carry a staggering combined power requirement of 26 gigawatts, enough electricity to power nearly three New York Cities at peak demand. It is a testament to the brute-force, capital-intensive strategy the U.S. is deploying to win the AI race.
While Washington is leveraging deep capital markets to fund its technical dominance, China — increasingly cut off from top-tier American technology — is taking a pragmatic path of domestic substitution. It is building a self-reliant ecosystem and rolling out AI applications at scale. A new generation of homegrown chipmakers and AI firms is emerging, reshaping global supply chains in the process.
The central question now facing the industry is which path will lead to the shores of artificial general intelligence, or AGI, first — a race that is likely to define the technological and geopolitical landscape for decades to come.
More here.
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