Chip War Author @crmiller1 says China's spending on chips and data centers doesn't reflect the same sense of urgency around AGI seen in the U.S.

In response, @johncoogan asks whether China is actually behind or simply operating on a much longer timeline.

Chris: The puzzle is why isn't Xi Jinping more AGI-pilled? China has been underspending on AI for the last four years. I think it's because the Chinese government just doesn't really believe that AI is going to be nearly as important as we do. If they did believe it, they'd be buying H200 chips and spending more on data centers, and they're not doing it.

John: Is it possible that China believes in AGI, but they just have longer timelines? China might not be necessarily behind the ball. They might just be optimizing for a 2035 AGI.

Chris: I think one explanation is that the U.S. is a service-sector-heavy economy and is going to be more impactful in services first, manufacturing second.

Second, U.S. firms could be more tech-forward. You see this in cloud computing. China has a tiny cloud computing market relative to GDP because its large enterprises just don't want to move to the cloud.

Third, we should be open to the prospect that the Chinese government just hasn't gotten the memo yet. You know, for better or for worse, we have no deficit of VCs and tech entrepreneurs in government.