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What podcasters are saying about US–China AI & chip race
Summary
In the past 30 days, 18 speakers on 14 finance podcasts discussed US–China AI & chip race in 19 views. Chorus has followed US–China AI & chip race since September 25, 2026: 20 views from 19 speakers on 14 shows.
Who talks about it most
- R.P. Eddy · 2
- Erik Townsend · 1
- Luke Gromen · 1
- Gary Gensler · 1
- Arthur Hayes · 1
- Dan Ives · 1
- David Busch · 1
- Peter Tchir · 1
- Paul Kedrosky · 1
- Naveen Rao · 1
The latest views
Newest first. Every quote is checked against the episode's transcript.
Luke Gromen · Forest for the Trees (FFTT)
The administration's DeepSeek ban is a regulatory moat protecting OpenAI and Anthropic's economics.
Sacks has argued against AI regulation, yet the administration banned DeepSeek from government programs and from companies that sell into them. Gromen accepts there may be a national-security reason to keep Chinese models out, but says the ban also works as a regulatory moat around the economics of OpenAI and Anthropic, and that it makes Sacks look hypocritical.
“that's a regulation, that's a moat that they helped try to put up around the economics of OpenAI Anthropics.”at 27:25
MacroVoices: MacroVoices #556 Luke Gromen: US Midterms & Beyond ·
Erik Townsend · MacroVoices
An AI credit bust would let China overtake the US in AI, a real national security risk.
Credit-financed AI spending is giving US frontier labs their lead, but as Matt Berry has noted, that lead is only about six months, and China is not far behind. A credit bust in AI would stall US progress and could hand China dominance in AI globally, which Townsend sees as a genuine national security risk and as the policy reason Washington would step in to prevent it.
“if we had a credit bust in AI, it would legitimately risk a... China taking over and basically becoming the dominant power in AI globally, and that really is a genuine national security risk in my opinion.”at 32:57
MacroVoices: MacroVoices #556 Luke Gromen: US Midterms & Beyond ·
Gary Gensler · MIT Sloan School of Management
White House is racing to outpace China in AI, and China will not slow down, making choices hard.
Gensler says the White House has its foot on the accelerator, wanting to go as fast as possible in competition with China. He notes China is not going to slow down, which together with the worry about overall financial stability during a capex slowdown, makes the choices hard.
“And then you've got a White House that just got their foot on the accelerator pedal and wants to go as fast as possible in competition with China. And China is not gonna slow down.”at 33:31
Bloomberg Surveillance: Previewing the Fed Meeting and AI IPOs ·
Arthur Hayes · Flop Labs
Beijing sees AI as the silver bullet to outgrow debt and deflation, backing Chinese AI firms.
Hayes says China is as all-in on AI as the US and is spending as much money on it. He says Xi Jinping has been vocal that AI and AI-adjacent industries are how China can outgrow its debt and deflation problems. Beijing backs DeepSeek, Moonshot's Kimi, Z.ai and similar firms. Billions of yuan are going into data centers, though fewer than in the US because building in China is much cheaper. He says the Politburo views advanced technology as its silver bullet to cut through deflation.
“Xi Jinping has been very vocal about the fact that he believes AI and AI adjacent industries are the way in which China can outgrow its debt and deflation issues.”at 29:13
Wealthion: Arthur Hayes: Stocks Peak in 2027 Before the AI Bubble Bursts ·
US is ahead of China in tech for the first time in thirty years, with Anthropic, Nvidia and Microsoft central.
Ives argues that the US is ahead of China in technology for the first time in thirty years. He credits Anthropic, Nvidia and Microsoft as key pieces of this lead and frames it as part of an AI arms race that is playing out. He ties this to public debate about investor participation in Anthropic's IPO.
“first time in thirty years, US is [ahead] of China when it comes to tech, but Anthropic plays a huge piece.”at 35:47
CNBC Power Lunch: Previewing Big Tech Earnings, Anthropic IPO Announcement, Countdown to Midterms 10/26/26 ·
David Busch · Trajan Wealth
Competition with China in AI means the US must build out AI infrastructure to stay competitive.
Busch compares the AI race to the late-1990s search engine contest, where Google beat Netscape, AOL and Yahoo. He says competition is now global, especially with China and its AI technology. He argues the US must build out AI infrastructure because fierce global competition makes it necessary, and says it is not yet clear who will win.
“ultimately, as a country, we have to build out this infrastructure because there's fierce competition globally.”at 10:51
The David Lin Report: ‘Marching Towards Default’: Market’s Weakest Link Revealed | David Busch ·
Peter Tchir · Academy Securities
Cheap Chinese compute is among the biggest threats; Chinese chipmakers are catching up, eroding US first-mover advantage.
Academy Securities has been discussing the likelihood of cheap Chinese compute reaching the market. Chinese chip companies are improving their compute and catching up. China also has an energy advantage because it has spent more on its electricity grid going forward, so Tchir is worried that US first-mover advantages in AI will not hold.
“I think we've been talking a lot at Academy Securities about the potential for cheap Chinese compute to come on the market, and we feel that's one of the biggest threats that you're seeing the Chinese chip companies get better, you're seeing their compute get better, you're seeing them catch up a little bit.”at 2:04
Bloomberg Surveillance: Market Uncertainty Ahead of the Midterms ·
Paul Kedrosky · SK Ventures
China makes tokens near marginal cost, roughly eight months behind US models, far cheaper.
China is trying to become an industrial-scale token manufacturer, producing tokens near marginal cost. Benchmarks from groups like Epoch AI suggest its models trail US models by about eight months. Its tokens are sold at a much lower price. Paul uses this to argue that US frontier labs cannot charge a premium for model quality indefinitely, which squeezes US pricing and unit economics.
“China is trying to essentially become like almost an industrial manufacturer of tokens. So producing tokens at very close to the marginal cost of production that are, say, eight months behind US models in terms of their performance... And they're producing these tokens at a vastly lower price.”at 24:55
Hidden Forces: The Most Dangerous Investment Cycle In History | Paul Kedrosky ·
Naveen Rao · Unconventional AI
The US is far ahead on tip-of-the-spear AI innovation; AI was born there, while China does good work but not frontier.
China has centralised planning and built infrastructure much faster, and it is doing real innovation, not just distillation. However, the most advanced innovations that open new areas have come from the US, and the US should leverage that advantage. He contrasts infrastructure scale with frontier innovation, where the US leads.
“when it comes to innovation, tip of the sphere sort of things, like, The US is far and away better. AI was born here, not there.”at 7:17
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Mark Headley · Matthews
China's commodity chip push is coming, but he expects it a couple of years away.
Headley says the upper-end chip market is safe and solid, while China is coming in the commodity chip market, though he expects that to take a couple of years. Markets now react to every report of China ramping up with 'uh-oh, here comes China', which he thinks overstates the near-term threat to Korean chipmakers.
“The upper level chip market is pretty safe and pretty solid. The commodity chip market, China, is coming. I think it's gonna be a couple years.”at 39:53
CNBC Closing Bell: Closing Bell Overtime: Markets Search for Opportunity After a Wild Week 10/23/26 ·
Jason Wu · International Monetary Fund
Cheaper Chinese AI models may question whether current US AI investment is needed, though they could also curb excess spending.
China plays a major role in the AI ecosystem through chips and some frontier models. Wu sees a possible positive outcome: if the AI frontier is pushed forward collectively, this might reduce some excessive investment without compromising the power of the end product. He also sees a negative scenario, in which cheaper models from China raise substantial questions about whether all of these investments are needed. He presents both as possibilities rather than a firm forecast.
“this might take away some of the excessive investments if you will... some of the cheaper models coming out from China is gonna raise substantial questions about whether all of these investments are needed.”at 39:30
Andy Jassy · Amazon
The US cannot afford not to build data centers, or China will set the global AI norms.
Jassy argues AI is the biggest technology transformation of his time, and the infrastructure build-out it requires is comparable to the US highway and bridge programs of the 1950s. He says the US, and the world more broadly, cannot afford not to build data centers, because otherwise another country like China would establish the norms. He does not want those norms set by China, either domestically or globally. He acknowledges the industry can build better, but argues the build-out is necessary.
“cannot afford not to build data centers or we will find that another country like China will establish and all the norms there.”at 17:30
a16z Podcast: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Why Amazon Is Investing $220 Billion in AI ·
Eric Schmidt · Relativity Space
China's models trail by about six months, but free open-weight pricing means the West is already losing users.
Schmidt says the Chinese are fast followers. His team's China-versus-US model valuations suggest they are about six months behind. He argues they have benefited from distillation, which he calls more or less illegal, and from chips that were smuggled in. He says the real loss is in adoption: China gives its products away free, so most of the world, including poorer countries, will use free Chinese models over expensive Western ones.
“It looks like they are six months behind... But I will tell you that if they're six months behind, we're already losing because their strategy is that the products are free. So if you define losing as users, the vast majority of the world will use the free Chinese models.”at 24:43
In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen: Eric Schmidt: The Age of Agents, Superintelligence, and Why Europe Is Falling Behind ·
Tobias Carlisle · Acquirers Funds / The Acquirers Podcast
Chinese AI, led by DeepSeek, was only a little behind the American frontier.
On a trip to China about eighteen months ago, VCs there said American AI was ahead. OpenAI's American version was ahead of everything else, but DeepSeek, the free Chinese version, was just behind. Tobias notes that this is old technology, but says the field was leapfrogging at the time.
“The American version of OpenAI was ahead of everything else. But DeepSeek, which is the free Chinese version, was sort of just behind it.”at 21:53
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Gary Marcus · New York University (professor emeritus)
Chinese models will match GPT-6 within months; the GPT-5 China panic was overblown.
Marcus recalls the panic in 2023 that China would blow up the world if it reached GPT-5 first. He called it overblown. After GPT-5 arrived, the world didn't end, and it wasn't used to solve anything like the Taiwan problem; it had little impact. Now GPT-6 Astra has come out first, but Chinese models will match it within a month or three, so the race lead is short-lived.
“Now we have GPT-six Astra first, so what? The Chinese models will match it in a month or three months or whatever it is.”at 5:47
The Real Eisman Playbook: Gary Marcus on AI Doomsday Fears, Hacking, & the Fight for Control | The Real Eisman Playbook Ep 79 ·
Maria Vassalou · Pictet Group
China trails the US in innovation and production despite patent counts; the rivalry will persist.
Vassalou says China is not yet at the US level in innovation and production. Patent counts may suggest otherwise, but she calls that misleading. China's control of many inputs needed to produce these technologies is what makes it a serious challenger. She adds that the US–China competition will not go away when the administration changes, because US leadership in technology is existential for the financial system and not an ego-driven pursuit.
“So now we are in a situation where China is not at the same level as The US in terms of innovation production, even though the patterns, the number of patterns may give a different idea, I would say this is misleading.”at 35:26
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Brent Johnson · Santiago Capital
Losing the AI race would make winning the broader power competition with China very difficult; the two are intertwined.
Brent says the rise of AI is a huge part of the Cold War and that the US will struggle to win the overall power competition without also winning the AI race, so the two are intertwined. He adds that chips and traditional energy are being weaponized as derivatives of this great power competition, which he sees as the common thread behind events such as the US Venezuela action and Marco Rubio's Iceland trip.
“I think it will be very difficult to win the overall power competition if you don't win the AI race as well, and so I think these two are very much intertwined.”at 37:23
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R.P. Eddy · Ergo
Expects US to restrict Chinese AI models in defense and finance; not bullish on them.
Eddy says he is not very bullish on Chinese models and expects US government restrictions on them. He says government will be explicit about not encouraging their use, if not banning them outright, and that defense contractors and financial markets will not be allowed to use Chinese models. He cites the Huawei playbook, where US restrictions shut a Chinese vendor out of sensitive sectors, as the template. He expects American frontier and cheaper models, plus future American open-weight models, to fill the gap.
“the U. S. Government is going to be highly explicit that at least not encouraging the use of Chinese models, if not outright banning the use of Chinese models. In fact, you should bank on that”at 24:35
On The Tape with Danny Moses: R.P. Eddy: Don't Ignore The Cassandras ·
R.P. Eddy · Ergo
The US should tighten China's AI access and chip exports rather than negotiate with China from weakness.
Eddy argues that if the US has so much trouble with China, it should hammer it harder. He asks why tariffs are not higher and why the US is not doing more to restrict China's capacity to build AI. He questions why the US lets China get ahead in AI at all, why China has access to data centres in Asia, and why chips, including high-power ones, are allowed to go there. He calls AI central to the broader contest.
“Why are we letting them get ahead in a I at all? Why are we Why you letting them have access to data centers in Asia? Why are we letting any chips go in there?”at 39:18
On The Tape with Danny Moses: R.P. Eddy: Don't Ignore The Cassandras ·
Michael Every · Rabobank
US will likely bar Chinese open-source AI models, as it did Chinese EVs, soon.
Every points out that Chinese EVs, which record data, are sold in the West but not in America, which he says shows a template of US exclusion of Chinese technology on security grounds. He argues the same logic should extend to Chinese open-source AI models, and he expects that to happen imminently. He frames this as a national-security reaction to a competitor that is 'better' and that the US does not want to have.
“How many can you buy in America? None... Why isn't that gonna be extended to open source stuff from China too imminently”at 48:34
MacroVoices: MacroVoices #551 Michael Every: Decoding The Global Geopolitical Puzzle (Part 2) ·
Ask your AI about US–China AI & chip race
Chorus gives Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants every view on US–China AI & chip race from the market's podcasts. Ask who's worried, who isn't, who changed their mind, and why.
Chorus reports what speakers said. It isn't investment advice.