EXPERT PERSPECTIVE / OPINION -- The core lessons from the Cold War should guide us as we face the new “Axis of Aggressors” today. First among these, is that we need to win the technology race.
Advanced technology made in United States did more than just put an American on the moon, it also solidified our economic foundation, empowered long-term entrepreneurial American leadership, and protected our national interests.
Maintaining this technology leadership should continue to be our priority today. Despite the Biden and Trump Administrations trying to limit the sale of U.S. software used to design semiconductors to Chinese groups, the U.S. government simply has not taken enough meaningful action to actually protect America’s leadership position.
China is embracing loopholes and openly flaunting strategic workarounds in our export policy that allows for the continued development of high-quality semiconductor chips with U.S. technology in China, despite our efforts to restrict Chinese access to such tools.
Along these same lines, Beijing plans to expand the use of open-source chip technology such as RISC V, in order to ween off its reliance on the West and spur the development of advanced chips in China. By leveraging RISC-V, Chinese companies are using open source software derived in the West to design their own processors for AI, cloud computing, and even military applications without violating current U.S. export restrictions.
And this shift is happening now.
Chinese tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei have invested heavily in RISC-V research and development, looking to exploit this back-door access to western open source technology. Additionally, Chinese government-backed initiatives are pouring billions into this effort, positioning it as a national priority.
This should not have been a surprise: after all, experts have been warning for years that this day would come, and China reportedly plans to issue policy guidance to boost the use of RISC-V chips.
This has not gone completely unnoticed, though. Congress has been looking at this technology and China’s ability to exploit it, and has rightfully raised a red flag, while the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security has been ramping up export controls on advanced chip products.
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But despite the alarm bells, Congressional scrutiny, and increasing export actions, the RISC-V loophole remains unclosed – and China has pressed forward and is making progress.
For example, the development of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI-powered chatbot, demonstrated that the United States may not be as far ahead as we once thought in emerging technology, and there are many more reports beginning to surface about advancements of home grown Chinese tech.
According to a recent report from the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China’s use of open source technology will bolster its ability to produce AI chips domestically, which is key to China’s long-term AI ambitions.
Another concern about this extensive use of open-source technology by Chinese companies is that it is leading to significant cybersecurity concerns with products built on it. DeepSeek is just one recent example, with the platform coming under cybersecurity scrutiny immediately after its release, with many countries and companies restricting its use. DeepSeek is considered 11 times more likely to be exploited by cybercriminals than other AI models.
A separate CSIS report notes that chip design is intended to be at the forefront of the ongoing struggle to ensure cybersecurity and to thwart hacking and tampering efforts, not be the source of new cybersecurity challenges.
Bottomline—the more Chinese chips there are in the American market, the more vulnerable our critical systems become to potential attacks – both from criminal actors and nation states like China.
CrowdStrike recently reported that Chinese state-sponsored cyber-attacks have increased by 150%, with attacks in financial services, media, manufacturing and the industrial sectors increasing by 300%.
All of this tells us that we need to act now.
One way is to prioritize domestic investment in semi-conductor production and establish a unified approach to semiconductors and advanced technology with our allies and trusted partners. The Trump administration has already made significant strides in this realm – as evidenced by the recent $100 billion investment by TSMC in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.
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But this type of domestic investment should be just one leg of a much broader strategy. The complicated world of semiconductors and advanced tech goes much deeper.
We also need to take regulatory action that prevents U.S. companies from working with Chinese companies in open source technology forums (e.g. RISC-V International); tightens export controls to apply equally to commercial and open source semiconductor technology; and properly screens technology and semiconductors that contain Chinese IP.
Any approach should be integrated – bringing together both incentivization and regulation to protect America’s economic productivity and national security.
Chips are at the heart of all technology products and the advancement of AI platforms that they power. They are a key part of everyday life – they’re in our phones, cars, smartwatches, etc. and their applications go much further into our defense and military systems - impacting battlefield performance, information acquisition, and evaluation. Ensuring a strategic advantage in this space is crucial to protecting our national security now and in the event of a future global crisis.
In a world of such uncertainty and potential, the United States needs to maintain its lead in chips and advanced technology. In order to do so, though, we need a comprehensive strategy that looks at both our opportunities and potential vulnerabilities – and pays close attention to the threats from our adversaries.
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