This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here—your byte-sized guide through the electric dance of US-China tech warfare. So, what’s been shaking in the last two weeks? Strap in; it’s been a cyber rollercoaster and a regulatory chess match!

First up, the cybersecurity front lines. The Auburn University McCrary Institute just dropped a chilling report: China’s ‘Typhoon’ operations are poking and prodding critical US infrastructure—energy, water, telecom, transport, healthcare—like a curious, but relentless hacker. We’re talking Volt Typhoon in your water systems, Salt Typhoon swimming through American telecom networks, grabbing metadata from millions and even spying on senior officials. According to Microsoft and other security squads, these campaigns aren’t just about collecting secrets—they’re prepping for the big disrupt, ready to flip switches and scramble comms the moment Beijing wants serious leverage in a crisis.

Healthcare isn’t safe either. Imagine ransomware for hospitals and medical research facilities during a national security scare—not just inconvenient, but a blow to civilian and military morale. And it’s not one-off hacks; this is a broad, persistent push for dominance, making cyber defense a marathon, not a sprint.

Tech restrictions? It’s whack-a-mole season. Just as the Trump administration threatened to blitz Chinese tech firms with expanded chip bans and tariffs, last week’s summit brought a fragile truce. Trump and Xi agreed to pause most new sanctions for a year. The US is halving tariffs on China over fentanyl-related concerns, China is turning down its rare earths export controls—temporarily. But the big question is whether chip giants like Nvidia will ever get their newest Blackwell chips back into Chinese hands. Right now, Trump says, “go talk to Nvidia,” leaving the fate of China’s AI sector dangling like a loose ethernet cable.

Meanwhile, China’s homegrown heroes aren’t waiting for a handout. According to Caixin and SemiAnalysis, US restrictions have supercharged China’s push for self-sufficiency. Huawei is rolling out Ascend chips at record speed—think Atlas super nodes packed with thousands of domestic chips, capable of training massive AI models. Cambricon Technologies snagged a breakout deal with ByteDance, firing up its stock and putting “China’s Nvidia” on investors’ lips. But before you cheer, there’s a catch: these chips run on proprietary software, not Nvidia’s CUDA, kicking off a whole “iOS vs Android” battle for developers. The energy cost? Through the roof, but China’s betting big that massive scale will outweigh efficiency, especially if top-tier Western chips remain off-limits.

Over in policy-world, both Beijing and Washington are doubling down. US export controls—like the infamous Entity List—have morphed from a blunt tool into a surgical strike on advanced semiconductors. The “Affiliate Rule” threatened tens of thousands more firms, but the truce put that chess move on ice for now. Still, the sanctions already hurt Chinese tech giants, forcing a pivot to local suppliers and turbocharging China’s five-year plan for tech independence.

As for future forecasts? Expert consensus says buckle up for hybrid warfare: sanctions, cyber operations, and supply chain skirmishes will shape the battlefield. Genuine cooperation feels distant; a year-long truce buys time but changes little on the ground. Look for more homegrown innovation in China—whether forced by necessity or fueled by ambition—and for the US, an endless vigil to keep the cutting edge… well, cutting.

That's all for today’s Beijing Bytes—US-China Tech War Updates. Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to subscribe! This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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