China seeks self-reliance with R874 billion chip fund

Daniel Puchert

Daniel Puchert

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China launches R874 billion chip fund

China has set up the country’s largest-ever semiconductor investment fund to propel development of the domestic chip industry, the latest effort from Beijing to achieve self-sufficiency as the US seeks to restrict its growth.

The third phase of National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund has amassed 344 billion yuan (R874 billion) from the central government and various state-owned banks and enterprises, including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., according to Tianyancha, an online platform that aggregates official company registration information.
 
The US trade restrictions on China for semiconductor technology has the potential to blow up in their faces. I wouldn't underestimate China's ability to do what it takes to become self-sufficient and competitive in this industry.
 
Johand said:
The US trade restrictions on China for semiconductor technology has the potential to blow up in their faces. I wouldn't underestimate China's ability to do what it takes to become self-sufficient and competitive in this industry.
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The supply chain and supply of the required machines that create valuable small diameter CPUs are extremely narrow and close to impossible to replicate, and these are Western European based, assembly in the Netherlands, optics from Switzerland, etc, single digit number of extremely specialized suppliers.

The US also signaled to China in their recent military drills in Taiwan, that any of these fabrication machines have self destruct remote ability built in, that's how strategically valuable they are.

At first I found this aggressive denial of small nm computing units to be petty and dumb, but given the kind of insane advanced AI weapons the US is developing, it makes sense.

There were also... disagreements between China and Israel, and I believe it was because of Intel, and Israel not wanting to "play ball" in back channeling next gen hardware, if you know what I mean.

If China cannot match parity in computing, especially with regards to AI weapons platforms, then they're at a major disadvantage in any military capacity, their number advantage would not mean much given the exponential force multiplication advanced AI weapons allows, the US is currently building some supremely badass AI things, and nobody else it seems will be allowed to have those kind of toys.
 
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BlackStatic said:
The supply chain and supply of the required machines that create valuable small diameter CPUs are extremely narrow and close to impossible to replicate, and these are Western European based, assembly in the Netherlands, optics from Switzerland, etc, single digit number of extremely specialized suppliers.
Click to expand...
wccftech.com

SMIC Has Successfully Developed The 5nm Process Without EUV Machinery, Huawei’s Mate 70 Series Likely The First Recipient Of This Technology

Despite using the older DUV machinery, China’s SMIC has apparently developed the 5nm process, and it is now ready for mass production
wccftech.com wccftech.com
China’s largest semiconductor manufacturing firm, SMIC, has reportedly achieved a new milestone, and that too, without the use of advanced EUV machinery that gives companies like Samsung and TSMC an edge in the cutting-edge chipmaking space. The latest information claims that using DUV equipment, the 5nm process has been completed, and SMIC is ready to mass produce the first batch of wafers. Huawei was previously said to be working closely with its local foundry partner to introduce a new Kirin SoC that will be found in the upcoming Mate 70 series for October later this year.
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backstreetboy said:
wccftech.com

SMIC Has Successfully Developed The 5nm Process Without EUV Machinery, Huawei’s Mate 70 Series Likely The First Recipient Of This Technology

Despite using the older DUV machinery, China’s SMIC has apparently developed the 5nm process, and it is now ready for mass production
wccftech.com wccftech.com
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If that's genuinely true then the military projections of full scale war in 2027 is spot on.

Also, congratulations to China, given the complexity of these fab machines, that's a serious achievement to do on your own.

Also, given the insane prices of GPUs and CPUs these days, while you're building your next gen killer robots, please spare a few for us gamers, thanks! <3

This whole situation is actually a tragedy, the US number 1 policy is they must be number 1 top dog, militarily, always, that's the rule of the jungle, China's policy is to grow and become the best, these two things will never exist in harmony, it's like an enormous train collision in slow motion.

These are all such smart and industrious people, imagine how far the world could have gone if these policies didn't exist and people just worked together, but ja, I guess that's not how the world works. :-/

War is such a fkn drag on the world, especially between the major powers, it's wildly entertaining and insane, but it's not an optimal state for humanity.
 
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Always easier to catch up than to develop first, and they have the engineers and scientists to do it, its just a matter of funding and time. Funding seems to be taken care of now, so give it time I guess. Not that I am a fan of the way China is going but I doubt that they will be far behind the west in 10 years or so.
 
Cius said:
Always easier to catch up than to develop first, and they have the engineers and scientists to do it, its just a matter of funding and time. Funding seems to be taken care of now, so give it time I guess. Not that I am a fan of the way China is going but I doubt that they will be far behind the west in 10 years or so.
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Uh, no, they have till 2027 to achieve (existentially important) parity and production, they don't have 10 years. They could pull it off with this much funding, never underestimate these guys.

Well, technically, they have till next year / end of next year to hit 3nm or lower, it'll have to be integrated into weapons platforms prior to 2027, which is a US deadline for conflict.

The sooner parity is achieved the sooner conflict can be avoided, IMO, so it's a race against time.

And who wins from all of this? I'll tell you who, GAMERS win, as always!
 
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Quicks said:
China is pretty good at showing the US the middle finger.
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This is unironically an excellent "space race" in the quest for AI death robots because the value will ultimately be transferred down to us consumers.

I think NVIDIA is worth more than the entire Germany economy, this AI stuff is life threatening to any major power.
 
BlackStatic said:
The supply chain and supply of the required machines that create valuable small diameter CPUs are extremely narrow and close to impossible to replicate, and these are Western European based, assembly in the Netherlands, optics from Switzerland, etc, single digit number of extremely specialized suppliers.
<SNIP>
If China cannot match parity in computing, especially with regards to AI weapons platforms, then they're at a major disadvantage in any military capacity, their number advantage would not mean much given the exponential force multiplication advanced AI weapons allows, the US is currently building some supremely badass AI things, and nobody else it seems will be allowed to have those kind of toys.
Click to expand...
China has 7nm since last year and are currently testing 5nm with expected mass production later in 2024.
see https://www.trendforce.com/news/202...e-5nm-chips-for-huawei-without-euv-machinery/

In terms of using 7nm or 5nm or 3nm in direct military uses - this is not a requirement.
Russia used CPU's from washing machines in their war efforts.
see https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1774175/russia-economy-sanctions-effect

In terms of AI, I hear the Huawei Ascend 910B is giving Nvidea headaches.
see https://www.reuters.com/technology/...ces-huawei-chip-fight-sources-say-2024-05-24/
and https://techcentral.co.za/china-huawei-is-giving-nvidia-a-run-for-its-money/245268/

The US "entity list" have fast tracked and prioritized China move away from unreliable sources.

I wonder if Nvidia, Intel, AMD and AMSL can claim back financial losses from US government.
 
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