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Martijn Rasser

@martijnrasser.bsky.social
1.1K followers 431 following 1.1K posts

Vice President at the Special Competitive Studies Project

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Reposted by Martijn Rasser
War on the Rocks @warontherocks.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
While skeptics say an independent AI regulator would be captured, the June Mythos episode shows that without one, outcomes are shaped by personality and political pressure. warontherocks.com/cogs-of-war/...
warontherocks.com
America Needs an Off-Ramp Between Doing Nothing and Shutting AI Down
For 18 days in June, two of America’s most capable AI models went dark worldwide, not for technical or business reasons, but because the U.S. government
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
“What would Republicans have said if the Biden crowd acquired government stakes in companies with ties to its friends and family? Well, that’s more or less what the Trump team is doing to little political objection. State capitalism and political cronyism are in fashion…” www.wsj.com/opinion/usa-...
wsj.com
Opinion | Crony Socialism and Rare Earths
Government stakes in companies is the wrong way to beat China.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
“Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch a constellation of 1 million satellites that will orbit Earth and harness the sun to power AI data centers, according to a filing at the Federal Communications Commission.” - www.reuters.com/business/aer...
reuters.com
SpaceX seeks FCC nod for solar-powered satellite data centers for AI
Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch a constellation of 1 million satellites that will orbit Earth and harness the sun to power AI data centers, according to a filing at the Federal Communications Commi...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Anthropic-Pentagon Clash Over Limits on AI Puts $200 Million Contract at Risk www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...
wsj.com
Anthropic-Pentagon Clash Over Limits on AI Puts $200 Million Contract at Risk
The AI startup and defense officials disagreed over whether the technology would be used for autonomous “lethal” operations and surveillance.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
An A.I. Pioneer Warns the Tech ‘Herd’ Is Marching Into a Dead End www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/t...
nytimes.com
An A.I. Pioneer Warns the Tech ‘Herd’ Is Marching Into a Dead End
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
2026 NDS word count: Taiwan - 0 Greenland - 5 Russia - 14 China - 22 "Trump" - 50+
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
2026 NDS: "Supercharge the defense industrial base." Also 2026 NDS: No mention of semiconductors. No export controls. No critical minerals. No workforce. No updated NDIS. Acquisition speed isn't an industrial strategy. You can't supercharge what you haven't mapped.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Unlike traditional benchmarks, Pokémon allows AI models to demonstrate reasoning, decision-making and long-term goal progression, mirroring complex real-world tasks. www.wsj.com/articles/how...
wsj.com
How Playing Pokémon Became the Ultimate Test of AI’s Intelligence
Nintendo’s original Pokémon games are becoming a popular and strangely effective way to test and benchmark new artificial-intelligence models. “We’re all a whole bunch of nerds,” said the man behind t...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Trump’s lesson in how to turn U.S. allies into China’s friends. www.wsj.com/opinion/the-... via @WSJopinion
wsj.com
Opinion | The Greenland War of 2026
Trump’s lesson in how to turn U.S. allies into China’s friends.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
When China wants to intimidate its rivals, it has an extensive—and often menacing—playbook to draw from www.wsj.com/world/china/...
wsj.com
China’s Propaganda Playbook for Targeting Rivals
China’s state propaganda machine has a toolbox for undermining leaders that includes fake opinion polls, “lawfare” and general character assassination.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Nvidia must meet new security requirements before sending its H200 artificial-intelligence chips to China www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Trump Administration Enacts Security Rules for Nvidia’s China Chip Sales
The chip designer and its customers must satisfy security requirements before exports are approved.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
US to push for quicker action in reducing reliance on China for rare earths www.reuters.com/business/ene...
reuters.com
US to push for quicker action in reducing reliance on China for rare earths
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will urge Group of Seven nations and others to step up their efforts to reduce reliance on critical minerals from China when he hosts a dozen top finance official...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
“I would be very cautious about any predictions because we don’t know the full scope of adoption or the rate of change. What’s also not really accounted for is how jobs can change in place versus automation away from jobs.” www.straitstimes.com/world/as-ai-...
straitstimes.com
As AI adoption rises, job fears grow across the US
Explore how the rapid rise in AI adoption is fueling job fears across the US economy, impacting various sectors and prompting calls for reskilling. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitst...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
New role, same mission. I'm now leading SCSP's Technology Leadership Directorate as Vice President—working with an amazing team to ensure America stays ahead in the technologies that will define this century. More to come on what we're building at the Special Competitive Studies Project!
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
🧵 1/ The real significance of events in Venezuela for oil is less about reserves and more about refining capacity and geopolitical positioning. The potential boon for U.S. oil companies? Refining Venezuelan crude (caveat: depends on sanctions relief and production ramp-up).
A Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) oil pumpjack on Lake Maracaibo in Cabimas, Zulia state, Venezuela. Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg/Getty Images
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
"Enhe’s primary school does not teach Russian, the kind of omission that Mr. Putin has denounced as an intolerable violation of ethnic Russians’ rights in countries like Ukraine and the Baltic States." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/w...
nytimes.com
China’s Russian Town Has Log Cabins and Cyrillic Signs, but No Russians
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
President Donald Trump on Friday blocked U.S. photonics firm HieFo Corp's $3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore, citing national security and China-related concerns. - www.reuters.com/world/china/...
reuters.com
Trump blocks chips deal, cites security, China-related concerns
President Donald Trump on Friday blocked U.S. photonics firm HieFo Corp's $3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore, citing national security and Chi...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
In Ukraine, a New Arsenal of Killer A.I. Drones Is Being Born www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/m...
nytimes.com
In Ukraine, a New Arsenal of Killer A.I. Drones Is Being Born
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Reunification ‘is unstoppable’, says Chinese president, a day after the conclusion of intense military drills www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
theguardian.com
Xi Jinping vows to reunify China and Taiwan in New Year’s Eve speech
Reunification ‘is unstoppable’, says Chinese president, a day after the conclusion of intense military drills
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Inside China’s Six-Decade Campaign to Dominate Rare Earths www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/b...
nytimes.com
Inside China’s Six-Decade Campaign to Dominate Rare Earths
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
China says what happens with Taiwan is none of Japan’s business. The reality is that an invasion of Taiwan would have immense stakes for Japan. These maps show why www.wsj.com/world/asia/c... via @wsj.com
wsj.com
See How a Chinese Attack on Taiwan Would Be Japan’s Problem
In a conflict, Taipei’s fate would become quickly intertwined with the U.S.-Japan security alliance.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
Three months, 19,687 nautical miles: One ship’s journey epitomizes a moment of peak globalization www.wsj.com/articles/thr...
wsj.com
Three Months, 19,687 Nautical Miles: This Lengthy Trade Route Is Peak Globalization
A Chinese ship sails the long way around the world to deliver cranes to the U.S. Gulf Coast and Jamaica.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
China issues drafts rules to regulate AI with human-like interaction - www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...
reuters.com
China issues drafts rules to regulate AI with human-like interaction
China's cyber regulator on Saturday issued draft rules for public comment that would tighten oversight of artificial intelligence services designed to simulate human personalities and engage users in ...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
Quite the Hail Mary. Goes to show you how significant this space tech gap is. www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
reuters.com
China eases IPO rules for firms developing reusable rockets
Chinese companies developing reusable commercial rockets will have access to a fast lane for initial public offerings on the tech-heavy STAR market that exempts them from some financial requirements, ...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
Despite billions in investment, humanoid robot startups​ say androids still face daunting technical challenges before they move from science experiments to a replacement for human workers www.wsj.com/tech/ai/huma... via @wsj.com
wsj.com
Even the Companies Making Humanoid Robots Think They’re Overhyped
Despite billions of dollars in investment, startups say their androids can only perform simple tasks.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 26/12/2025
More than 280 astronauts and cosmonauts have visited the ISS, and it has now been continuously occupied for 25 years. If you were born after 2 November 2000, for your entire life, there has always been someone living in space. www.bbc.com/future/artic...
bbc.com
All you need to know about the International Space Station's 25 years in orbit
The International Space Station (ISS) is humanity's most expensive object and has been in orbit for 25 years. Read its fascinating history, told in 25 numbers.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Ten former Samsung employees arrested for industrial espionage charges for giving China chipmaker 10nm tech — executives and researchers allegedly leaked DRAM technology to China-based CXMT, resulting in trillions of losses in Korean Won www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
tomshardware.com
Ten former Samsung employees arrested for industrial espionage charges for giving China chipmaker 10nm tech — executives and researchers allegedly leaked DRAM technology to China-based CXMT, resulting...
This involves more individuals than in previous cases
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
China’s tech gains are coming at a steep cost, with the state’s heavy-handedness in directing investments wasting colossal amounts of money www.wsj.com/world/china/...
wsj.com
China’s Sprint for Tech Dominance Can’t Hide an Economy Full of Holes
A self-sufficiency push has made China a tougher competitor to the U.S., but it comes with enormous waste.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Surprising biomedical application found for ASML’s chipmaking EUV lithography machines — they can mass produce nanopores for molecular sensing www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
tomshardware.com
Surprising biomedical application found for ASML’s chipmaking EUV lithography machines — they can mass produce nanopores for molecular sensing
Nanopores are useful for precisely determining molecule size, shape, charge, and more.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Beijing is now the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter, trailing only the U.S., France, and Russia. www.wsj.com/world/china/... via @wsj.com
wsj.com
How China Built an Arms Industry to Rival the West
China's ability to churn out advanced armaments is a key element in Xi Jinping’s vision of making his country less reliant on the outside world.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
Chinese AI Chip Maker Biren Technology Plans $623 Million Hong Kong IPO www.wsj.com/business/chi...
wsj.com
Chinese AI Chip Maker Biren Technology Plans $623 Million Hong Kong IPO
Biren Technology, one of China’s “Four Little Dragons” in the graphics-processing-unit sector, aims to raise as much as 4.85 billion Hong Kong dollars.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
“Datasection has gained more than $1.2bn in contracts with one large customer to access a significant portion of its 15,000 Nvidia Blackwell processors. That customer, which has a relationship with Datasection via a third party, is Tencent.” www.ft.com/content/9b47...
ft.com
Inside Tencent’s deal to use Nvidia’s best AI chips in Japan
Contracts with Chinese tech giant have rapidly turned Datasection into one of Asia’s biggest ‘neoclouds’
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
“In Nepal, the unseen eye has changed Tibetan life. The cameras are not just machines perched on the thick bundles of wires that twist through narrow lanes of Kathmandu in Nepal. They are a presence, an unseen watcher that Tibetans have learned to fear.” apnews.com/photo-essay/...
apnews.com
PHOTO ESSAY: Under watch by Chinese tech, the Tibetan community in Nepal is slowly suffocating
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — In Nepal, the unseen eye has changed Tibetan life. The cameras are not just machines perched on the thick bundles of wires that twist through narrow lanes of Kathmandu in Nepal...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Taiwanese authorities are mulling setting a new export rule that would only let the world’s number-one foundry export technologies that are two generations behind its leading-edge production node www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
tomshardware.com
Taiwan considers TSMC export ban that would prevent manufacturing its newest chip nodes in U.S. — limit exports to two generations behind leading-edge nodes, could slow down U.S. expansion
Largely maintained for now, it is set to go in the future.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Good: President Trump signed into law new powers to screen and restrict U.S. investment in Chinese technology firms www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
wsj.com
U.S. Clamps Down on Investment in Chinese Tech Companies
The National Defense Authorization Act, which President Trump has signed into law, has provisions meant to cut off capital for military and surveillance projects.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge chips. www.reuters.com/world/china/how-china-built-its-manhattan-project-rival-west-ai-chips-2025-12-17/
reuters.com
Exclusive: How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips
In a high-security Shenzhen laboratory, Chinese scientists have built what Washington has spent years trying to prevent: a prototype of a machine capable of producing the cutting-edge semiconductor ch...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Speech-to-reality www.therobotreport.com/mit-research...
therobotreport.com
With AI, MIT researchers teach a robot to build furniture by just asking - The Robot Report
A team of MIT researchers created a speech-to-reality system that enables a robot to build furniture with just a simple request.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
AI is creating more work, countering the doomers for now www.axios.com/2025/12/17/a...
axios.com
AI is creating more work, countering the doomers for now
A new analysis finds that wage and job growth have increased in the occupations most exposed to AI.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Beijing threatens to block BlackRock-led deal to buy Panama ports unless state-owned Cosco gets a majority stake www.wsj.com/business/log...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Panama Ports Deal Hits Impasse as China Makes New Demands for Its Approval
Beijing threatened to block the BlackRock-led deal to buy ports unless state-owned Cosco gets a majority stake.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
How Tech’s Biggest Companies Are Offloading the Risks of the A.I. Boom www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/t... via @nytimes.com
nytimes.com
How Tech’s Biggest Companies Are Offloading the Risks of the A.I. Boom
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Ukraine Claims First Strike by Underwater Drone on Russian Submarine www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/w...
nytimes.com
Ukraine Claims First Strike by Underwater Drone on Russian Submarine
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
China’s economic momentum slowed broadly in November www.wsj.com/world/asia/c...
wsj.com
China’s Economy Is Deteriorating on Several Fronts
The broad-based weakening spans consumer spending, investment and real estate.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
For the first time in decades, German businesses and politicians are questioning the unfettered free trade that turned the country into an industrial powerhouse www.wsj.com/world/europe...
wsj.com
Why Germany Wants a Divorce With China
For the first time in decades, German businesses and politicians are questioning the unfettered free trade that turned the country into an industrial powerhouse.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
AI technology is going to transform how we live and work…it will make some jobs obsolete. And it is going to transform all of our jobs…But AI is also going to create opportunities—whole new jobs that center on the technology and the advances it enables. www.wsj.com/tech/ai/new-...
wsj.com
Four New Jobs That May Be in Our AI Future
There will be, no doubt, many occupations that we can’t even imagine today. But here are four that seem possible.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Chipmaker Intel has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by U.S. sanctions. www.reuters.com/world/china/intel-has-tested-chipmaking-tools-firm-with-sanctioned-china-unit-sources-say-2025-12-12/
reuters.com
Exclusive: Intel has tested chipmaking tools from firm with sanctioned China unit, sources say
Chipmaker Intel , has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by U.S. sanctions, according to two sources with direct know...
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
How this riff-drunk ragamuffin, who turns 82 on Dec. 18, not only survived but stayed relevant is a mystery, a puzzle wrapped inside a guitar string. Solving it may be the best hope the rest of us have of aging gracefully. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
The Wisdom of Keith Richards at 82
Solving the mystery of the guitarist’s longevity may be our best hope of aging gracefully.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
Videogame executive Xu Bo, said to have more than 100 children, and other Chinese elites are building mega-families by hiring American surrogates. www.wsj.com/us-news/chin...
wsj.com
The Chinese Billionaires Having Dozens of U.S.-Born Babies Via Surrogate
Videogame executive Xu Bo, said to have more than 100 children, and other elites are building mega-families—testing citizenship laws and drawing on nannies, IVF and legal firms set up to help them.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
The question isn't whether fusion will arrive—it's who gets there first, and what that means for the rest of the century. #FusionEnergy #EnergyTransition #Science www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/c...
nytimes.com
Clean, Limitless Energy Exists. China Is Going Big in the Race to Harness It.
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
‘strategy’ China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia's H200 and is rejecting the AI chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI czar David Sacks said, citing news reports x.com/business/sta...
x.com
Bloomberg on X: "China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia's H200 and is rejecting the AI chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI czar David Sacks said, citing news reports https://t.co/i0IBaX0YYo" / X
China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia's H200 and is rejecting the AI chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI czar David Sacks said, citing news reports https://t.co/i0IBaX0YYo
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Martijn Rasser @martijnrasser.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
“President Trump said this week he will let Nvidia sell its H200 chip to China in return for the U.S. Treasury getting a 25% cut of the sales. The Indians struck a better deal when they sold Manhattan to the Dutch.”
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