China’s catching up to US AI… Here’s why it won’t matter
Episode description
Lennart Heim, a researcher and information scientist at RAND Corporation, joins Azeem Azhar to unpack a provocative claim: China is catching up with US AI capabilities, but it doesn't matter.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Episode trailer
(01:19) Lennart’s core thesis
(03:26) Why compute matters so much
(07:31) The investment split between model R&D and model execution
(11:18) How test-time compute impacts costs
(16:14) The geopolitics of compute
(21:32) Why does the U.S have more compute capacity than China?
(25:01) The trade-off between economic needs and national-security needs
(31:54) How technology change might shift the battlegrounds
(35:33) Dealing with compute and power concentration
(48:19) Concluding quick-fire question
Lennart's links:
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ohlennart
- Personal blog: https://heim.xyz/
Azeem's links:
- Substack: https://www.exponentialview.co/
- Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem
This was originally recorded for "Friday with Azeem Azhar", a new show that takes place every Friday at 9am PT and 12pm ET. You can tune in through Exponential View on Substack.
Produced by supermix.io and EPIIPLUS1 Ltd