Chinese companies can’t legally buy the most advanced US-made AI chips, so they’re renting them instead – from data centers in Thailand, Malaysia, and beyond – completely legally.
US policymakers know about the issue – but several years into the implementation of export controls on advanced chips, they still haven’t closed it.
And there’s a reason for that.
On this episode of the Trivium China Podcast, host Andrew Polk sits down with Tom Nunlist (Associate Director, Tech Practice, Shanghai) to unpack:
How Kimi K3’s release forced Washington to confront a loophole in export controls it’s known about for ages
Why renting chips sits completely outside the rules that govern buying them, even when the end result is identical
Why closing this gap risks a “double win” for Beijing: 1) marketing material to court the Global South with China’s AI stack and 2) and potential leverage to retaliate with rare earths, ultimately causing the US to back down
Why cutting off compute access could undermine trust in the US AI stack, like sanctions have eroded trust in the US dollar – and why that risk may be exactly what’s keeping policymakers’ finger off the trigger
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