Speaker 1: All right, let's get over to our next guest, because
Speaker 1: we're being told that the US is exploring the possibility
Speaker 1: of new export controls that would limit China's access to
Speaker 1: some of the most powerful emerging computing technologies. Were joined
Speaker 1: them by Jordan Strauss, Kroll Managing Director and Kroll Institute Fellow. Jordan,
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us. Let's just look at what
Speaker 1: is perhaps the bigger picture here. This is about not
Speaker 1: just semiconductors, which is a very very wide subject, but
Speaker 1: also in technologies to do with AI and quantum computing.
Speaker 1: Is it now really explicit that the wine House is
Speaker 1: doubling down in its efforts to contain China. Hey, risch
Speaker 1: It's nice to spend the morning with Hugh and Bloomberg.
Speaker 1: Absolutely clear. We've seen that happen over the past few
Speaker 1: weeks where the Biden administration has finally settled on and
Speaker 1: really doubled down on a very aggressive strategy. You saw
Speaker 1: that two weeks ago with the release of the new
Speaker 1: National Security Strategy, which identifies China as primary geopolitical competitor
Speaker 1: in the world with the United States, with the change
Speaker 1: in UM verification for certain Chinese companies that are engaged
Speaker 1: in advanced semiconductor research, and these rumors are are certainly
Speaker 1: fitting with all of that. You know, it's clear that,
Speaker 1: you know, the future of national security and national prosperity
Speaker 1: as much as it's been energy for the last hundred years,
Speaker 1: is high technology, is quantum AI and other chip enabled stuff.
Speaker 1: So you know, the Biden administration is recognizing that the
Speaker 1: chips are the new oil, and they're doing everything they
Speaker 1: can to try to create a competitive advantage for America.
Speaker 1: So in terms of timing, Jordan, do you think that
Speaker 1: the horse has left the barn so to speak? I mean,
Speaker 1: is there still time to contain China in this in
Speaker 1: this way or have they already or the country at
Speaker 1: large as it kind of advanced its own ambition to
Speaker 1: the extent that they have done work in quantum computing
Speaker 1: and AI. So there's been a lot of very healthy
Speaker 1: competition between the current great powers in this space and
Speaker 1: that will continue. You know, I think that the administration's
Speaker 1: actions and the actions that other Western governments are considering um.
Speaker 1: You know, in the United States, the passage of the
Speaker 1: so called Chips act Um and the Western equivalents of
Speaker 1: that that are likely about to pass in a few
Speaker 1: European countries have made clear that everybody is trying to
Speaker 1: bring this stuff closer to their shores to build a
Speaker 1: domestic ability to conduct R and D and to conduct
Speaker 1: fabrication of advanced technologies. I would say, by the way,
Speaker 1: that that competition is good, and not just good long
Speaker 1: term for companies that are engaged in this, but good
Speaker 1: for progress and innovation. On the US China front, there's
Speaker 1: been so much tension for the last twenty years that
Speaker 1: it I think short of a real diplomatic or scientific breakthrough, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the next the next year or two are
Speaker 1: probably gonna be fairly difficult to navigate. UM. Jordan Mike
Speaker 1: colleague in the studios, Brian Kurtz, and he's gonna doozy
Speaker 1: if a question it's that would it make a difference
Speaker 1: if China were a free country. I'm going on to say,
Speaker 1: is it competition or is it politics? Um? So great,
Speaker 1: great question, Brian. The you know, this is about the
Speaker 1: most critical developing technologies in the national security space. So
Speaker 1: these things can be used for everything from automated vehicles,
Speaker 1: to automated drones, to missiles and to h very very
Speaker 1: advanced cybersecurity challenges, particularly with cryptography. I think that the states,
Speaker 1: regardless of their way of government, are competing as as
Speaker 1: private actors are, and they're competing with all of their might.
Speaker 1: So we have Anthony blink In today, Secretary of State,
Speaker 1: picking up on what I thought was kind of an
Speaker 1: obvious conclusion based on the speech the other night from
Speaker 1: President Chi that Taiwan has created a much faster timeline.
Speaker 1: Are I'm sorry, Mainland China has created a much faster
Speaker 1: timeline for its seizure of Taiwan. Is this How does
Speaker 1: this enter into the conversation around advanced technologies? So Taiwan
Speaker 1: is the source of depending on who you talked to,
Speaker 1: between of the market to include fabrication for certain kinds
Speaker 1: of next generation semiconductor technologies, you know, particularly the kinds
Speaker 1: of things that you need to do really really powerful
Speaker 1: computational exercises. So there's a regional security issue, and then
Speaker 1: there's also kind of a um a concentration of knowledge
Speaker 1: there as far as the US and the West are concerned.
Speaker 1: In addition to the other strategic priorities to keeping Taiwan
Speaker 1: free UM, the loss of Taiwan would also represent you know,
Speaker 1: perhaps not a crippling but a very serious setback in
Speaker 1: terms of access to not just the kinds of semiconductors
Speaker 1: that we need to power the technology today, but also
Speaker 1: the problems of the future. And I know it by
Speaker 1: the way that I suspect that's one of the reasons
Speaker 1: that the US Chips Act received such why bipartisan support,
Speaker 1: that there was an overwhelming recognition that the US and
Speaker 1: the West dependence on on Asia and particularly on Taiwan
Speaker 1: for advanced technology development was near total. Very interesting times,
Speaker 1: great conversation, Jordan, Thank you so much for being with us.
Speaker 1: Jordan Strauss there He is managing director at Kroll. He
Speaker 1: is also a Kroll Institute Fellow