Washington is forcing global tech companies to pick a side: the US or China. That message has become especially prominent this week, after the administration of US President Donald Trump singled out the use of Huawei Technologies’ Ascend chips “anywhere in the world” as a violation of US export controls. Huawei’s artificial intelligence (AI) processors are gaining traction in China after Nvidia was banned from exporting its best chips there. Those restrictions recently extended to Nvidia’s H20 processors, which had been tailored for the Chinese market to meet US rules, sparking a rush to stockpile consumer-grade cards. Now, Chinese companies with global ambitions face an impossible choice: avoid using Huawei’s AI chips while having no access to advanced products from Nvidia, or use Ascend chips anyway and risk US penalties. For now, the US curbs were “unlikely to impede China’s adoption and deployment of AI right away”, said Chim Lee, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. https://www.scmp.com/tech.. #🇨🇳 ChinA.I. 🤖🧠🦾🤖