China's EUV prototype isn't a technological defeat for the West. It's a counterintelligence one. The vector isn't smuggled crates. It's people. Europe discovered, again, that openness without defense is vulnerability, not virtue.
Chinese scientists built a working EUV prototype using former ASML engineers and secondary-market parts. The machine generates light but hasn't produced chips. ASML took 18 years from prototype to production. Beijing wants 3-5. The math doesn't add up.
Zuckerberg paid $14 billion for Scale AI's founder to lead Meta's AI push. But Wang built a data labeling company, not a research lab. The Financial Times reports tensions mounting as Turing Award winner Yann LeCun heads for the exit.
Huawei plans to ship its new AI chip to Chinese customers next month, right when US export controls are pushing Nvidia out of the market. The timing works perfectly for Chinese tech firms hunting for alternatives to Nvidia's processors.
The new 910C chip matches the performance of Nvidia's H100 through a clever workaround. Huawei combined two 910B processors into one package and added improvements for handling AI tasks. Some customers already have their hands on early shipments.
This development comes as Washington tightens its grip on China's access to advanced AI technology. The US just blacklisted 16 Chinese companies, including Sophgo Technologies, over concerns about chip diversions. Officials also told chip makers like TSMC and Samsung to watch their Chinese customers more closely.
The restrictions hit Nvidia hard. The company now needs export licenses for its H20 chip – previously its main product for Chinese buyers. This created a gap in China's AI market that Huawei rushed to fill.
But questions linger about how Huawei makes these chips. Sources say China's SMIC produces some components, though with low success rates. More interesting: some 910C chips allegedly use parts that TSMC made for Sophgo, a detail that caught Washington's attention.
The Commerce Department started investigating TSMC's work with Sophgo after finding one of their chips in an earlier Huawei processor. TSMC made about three million chips matching Sophgo's designs recently. When asked, Huawei denied using TSMC-made Sophgo chips, and TSMC said they follow all rules and haven't supplied Huawei since 2020.
This shuffle marks a turning point in the AI chip world. Chinese companies like Moore Threads and Iluvatar CoreX now see their chance to grab market share from Nvidia. Paul Triolo from Albright Stonebridge Group puts it simply: Huawei's 910C will become Chinese AI developers' go-to chip.
The story shows how export controls can backfire. By pushing Nvidia out, Washington may have accidentally helped China build its own AI chip industry faster than anyone expected.
Why this matters:
Chinese scientists built a working EUV prototype using former ASML engineers and secondary-market parts. The machine generates light but hasn't produced chips. ASML took 18 years from prototype to production. Beijing wants 3-5. The math doesn't add up.
Zuckerberg paid $14 billion for Scale AI's founder to lead Meta's AI push. But Wang built a data labeling company, not a research lab. The Financial Times reports tensions mounting as Turing Award winner Yann LeCun heads for the exit.
Google calls Gemini 3 Flash "a fraction of the cost." Compared to Pro models, sure. Compared to the Flash model it replaces? Prices rose 67%. The real story: what happens when the industry stops subsidizing API access.
Amazon wants to invest $10 billion in OpenAI. But the deal requires OpenAI to spend that money buying Amazon's chips and cloud services. When your investor is also your vendor, where does the capital actually go?
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