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Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
When it comes to long-term prosperity in the high-tech world, it's all about setting standards. Intel once set the standard with x86, PCIe, and USB and now the vast majority of devices use these technologies in one way or another. Nvidia now enjoys its investments in the CUDA ecosystem and is setting the standard in AI compute in general. To a large degree, Nvidia's efforts made the U.S. industry the leader in AI. However, containing AI hardware in the U.S. will provoke rapid development of competing AI ecosystems that can eventually outperform the one developed in America.
"We are at an inflection point: the United States needs to decide if it is going to continue to lead the global development and deployment of AI or if we are going to retreat and retrench," a remark by Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang (republished by Ray Wang [x.com] reads) to the U.S. lawmakers reads. "America cannot lead by slowing down. If we step back, others will step in. And the global AI ecosystem will fragment — technologically, economically, and ideologically."
[...] The new U.S. export rules for compute GPUs — known as the AI Diffusion Rule [tomshardware.com] — come into effect on May 15. Under the Biden administration's AI Diffusion framework, unrestricted access to high-end AI chips like Nvidia's H100 is reserved for companies in the U.S. and a select group of 18 allied countries classified as 'Tier 1.' Companies in 'Tier 2' nations are subject to an annual limit of approximately 50,000 H100-class GPUs, unless they secure verified end user (VEU) approval. They can still import up to 1,700 units per year without a license, and these do not count toward the national quota. However, countries listed as 'Tier 3' — including China, Russia, and Macau — are essentially blocked from receiving such hardware due to arms embargo restrictions. The Trump administration is now reviewing this tier system to make it more straightforward and enforceable, and is rumored to make limitations for Tier 2 nations even stricter.
Not only will Nvidia cease to be able to sell its GPUs to China, which is one of its largest markets, but its Chinese customers will be forced to either use its GPUs in the cloud, or switch to processors developed in China, such as those designed by Huawei or one of the aforementioned companies. While this will slow down development of China's AI sector in the short term, it will give a strong boost for its AI hardware ecosystem in the mid and long-term future.
[...] The U.S. has already seen the consequences of ceding technological leadership, when Huawei gained a dominant foothold in global 5G deployments by offering cheaper and faster-to-deploy infrastructure. This serves as a cautionary example of how losing control over foundational standards can shift both market power and geopolitical influence. Nevertheless, whether the current administration has learnt from similar past mistakes remains to be seen.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Tork on Thursday May 08, @05:32PM (4 children)
Remember when the people voted for this made a big deal about government interference having unintended and undesired effects? I haven't heard from them in a while.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 08, @05:50PM (3 children)
Who wants to? The only remaining question is, when are we going to start to undo this shit?
America's fall is definitely an inside job, by its own population
(Score: 3, Touché) by VLM on Thursday May 08, @06:28PM (2 children)
LOL yeah our media is totally controlled by our own population LOL
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 08, @06:42PM (1 child)
Absolutely! We watch and choose to believe, and we support their advertisers. Media will always go where the money is
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 08, @07:37PM
here's some advice for all american voters regardless of their party-leanings: if you vote for someone who misbehaves, that ain't automatically on you. they're supposed to represent you, you're faultless if they fuck up against their campaign promises. but... if you go quiet while they're hurting the country, that's acceptance. you are enabling them, and at that point yes you are in-part to blame. if not wanting to hear 'i told you so' is what's making you clam up right now, what the living fuck are you expecting to happen if you just leave it to fester unchallenged!?