(Text/Observer Network, Liu Bai)
The blockade and sanctions imposed by the United States have instead made China's technological strength stronger. With China’s supercomputer “Ling Sheng” successfully topping the global rankings, China’s supercomputer has once again ranked first in the world after 9 years. On the other side of the ocean, this event has triggered another round of reflection in the United States.
On July 12, the US newspaper The Hill published a commentary stating that in recent years, the United States has increased its controls on chip exports to China, hoping to slow down the development of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing in China. However, signs such as China's AI chips becoming more sophisticated and supercomputers reaching new heights indicate that simply relying on sanctions is not enough to maintain the US technological advantage. If Washington continues to expand the scope of restrictions, it could even push more international customers towards Chinese technology companies.
The article mentions that the Trump administration relaxed restrictions on the export of NVIDIA chips to China. At that time, the Trump administration believed that since China continued to develop artificial intelligence, it was necessary to use American chips at least.
But this idea did not receive a positive response from the Chinese market. The article describes that, due to long-term export restrictions, Chinese companies have already accelerated the development of local alternatives. Therefore, in the face of the re-opened American chip industry, “Beijing told Americans: Thank you, but we don’t need it anymore.”
Regarding the issue of Chinese-made chips exported to the United States, China has repeatedly stated its position. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, previously noted that "small courtyards and high walls" cannot stop China's pace of innovation and development, nor are they conducive to the healthy development of the entire industry, including American companies.
In April this year, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross revealed during congressional questioning that although the Trump administration has tried to maintain a so-called ‘subtle balance’ in technology transfers with China, China has yet to purchase an H200 chip, as Beijing wishes to focus its investments on the independent development of domestic industries.
"Ling Sheng" CCTV News
This change is also reflected in the development of Chinese supercomputers.
The International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, Germany, released the latest Global TOP500 supercomputer list in late June. The "Lingsheng" supercomputer, developed independently by Chinese institutions, topped the list, surpassing the Supercomputer El Capitan of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States.
This is the second time in China's supercomputer history that a machine has topped this list, which is often used to measure a country's scientific and technological strength. This achievement follows the "Sunway TaihuLight" supercomputer in 2017.
Compared with rankings, what this article focuses on is that China achieved this breakthrough against the backdrop of continuous escalating export restrictions by the United States.
In recent years, the United States has continuously restricted the export of high-performance GPUs and advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China, hoping to slow down the development of AI and high-performance computing in China. However, “Lingsheng” does not use the traditional CPU+GPU heterogeneous computing approach. Instead, it innovatively adopts a fully CPU-based super-intelligent fusion architecture, achieving world-leading computing performance.
The article states that this means that China has found a development path different from that of the United States, which focuses on restricting certain entities. In many cases, US export controls have not prevented China from moving forward, but rather forced China to find new solutions.
The article goes on to say that China is developing its own technology industry to counter US technological restrictions, and is striving to establish complete industrial systems in key areas where the US attempts to impose limits. From semiconductors to artificial intelligence, and then to high-performance computing, China is continuously enhancing its autonomy. “This is a smart strategy, and the US should also learn from it.”
The author repeatedly reminded the US government that restrictions alone cannot ensure that the United States wins in competition. If Washington continues to expand the scope of regulations, blocking more and more technologies and services from entering international markets, the United States may actually weaken its own advantages.
Take the Remote Access Security Act being discussed by the U.S. Congress as an example. This bill not only involves sensitive technology exports, but also aims to restrict American companies from providing artificial intelligence and cloud computing services to companies that employ Chinese employees. Even if these companies are located in United States ally countries, the related technologies themselves do not pose a national security risk.
The article warns that this approach will weaken the competitiveness of American technology companies in the international market. International customers will not stop using artificial intelligence just because of increased barriers in the United States; instead, they will turn to other suppliers. “Every time Washington removes a US cloud service customer, Chinese companies gain an additional customer without having to compete on their own terms. This is not about curbing China’s influence, but rather helping China expand its influence.”
The author argues that what the United States truly needs to pursue is not simply preventing China from obtaining American technology, but rather ensuring that more developers and companies around the world continue to rely on American technology systems, instead of turning to Chinese solutions. "Winning the artificial intelligence competition means not just refusing others to use your technology, but more importantly, making the world continue to choose your technology."
