Chip Wars Gone Wild: Trump Flip-Flops While China Hacks Telecoms and Hoards Silver cover art

Chip Wars Gone Wild: Trump Flip-Flops While China Hacks Telecoms and Hoards Silver

Chip Wars Gone Wild: Trump Flip-Flops While China Hacks Telecoms and Hoards Silver

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 This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here, your go-to gal for all things China cyber chaos and tech tango. Buckle up, because the US-China tech war just hit warp speed these past two weeks—think chip ping-pong, sneaky hacks, and enough policy flips to make your head spin.

First off, cybersecurity's popping like fireworks at Lunar New Year. Singapore's Cyber Security Agency dropped a bombshell: China-linked UNC3886 APT crew hammered all four major telcos—M1, Singtel, StarHub, and SIMBA Telecom—with zero-day exploits, rootkits, and VMware sneak attacks. They siphoned tech data but no customer info got nabbed, thanks to Operation Cyber Guardian shutting 'em down. Over in the US, the FBI's Operation Winter Shield spotlighted PRC's Volt Typhoon and Flax Typhoon campaigns targeting end-of-life devices in critical infrastructure like healthcare—path of least resistance, folks, no fancy zero-days needed. Leaked docs even show Beijing rehearsing cyber drills on neighbors' power grids and telecoms. And don't sleep on Ding Linwei's conviction for swiping Google AI blueprints to boost Chinese rivals over Amazon and Microsoft.

Now, tech restrictions? Trump's team pulled a 180 on January 13th, ditching the blanket ban for case-by-case H200 chip exports to China—Nvidia's getting approvals for ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, over 400,000 units with 25% tariffs and caps. But China's clapping back, blocking H200 imports unless desperate, pushing self-reliance while Guangdong pumps record chip gear exports. Moore Threads is ditching silicon dreams for AI coding tools, Iluvatar's gunning to beat Nvidia's Rubin GPUs in two years, and Moonshot's Kimi K2.5 has Brookings' Kyle Chan warning US chip curbs are fizzling—China's AI gap's shrinking fast.

Policy shifts are wild: US Senate bills scream Taiwan support amid Trump-Xi chit-chat, while outbound investment rules chill Asia tech flows. Trump's eyeing Blackwell chip holds for domestic ramp-up, and tariffs on Chinese batteries hit 55% from January 1st. Beijing's nudging banks to dump US Treasuries—holdings at a 17-year low of $682 billion—yields spiked to 4.24% today. FTC gripes about zero cyber coop with China, and Trump's pulling from global forums, leaving critical infra exposed.

Industry's reeling—Nvidia's Taiwan HQ nods secure TSMC supply, but Congress's AI Overwatch Act could yank licenses anytime. Guangdong's EV and solar exports soared 30%, China's central gov plotting AI job-loss fixes.

Strategically? US compute lead's at risk—H200s could supercharge PLA drones and cyber ops. Experts say it's transactional bargaining now: China wields rare earths (70% silver refining), US holds chips. Brookings warns narrowed AI gaps mean potent military apps; ITIF says America's R&D edge is eroding. Future? More tit-for-tat, allies like Netherlands and Japan wobbling on controls. Xi's APEC chair push signals people-first infrastructure plays.

Whew, listeners, that's Beijing Bytes—stay sharp out there.

Thanks for tuning in, smash that subscribe button for more. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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