Microsoft reportedly wants to pivot the majority of its hardware manufacturing outside of China next year, a sign of the growing fracture between the Western and Chinese technology sectors.
It is not alone among American Big Tech firms: Nikkei also said AWS is moving server production outside of China, while Google is trying to grow server-making capabilities in Thailand. The US-China AI race has served as a driver for major American tech companies to shift manufacturing, fearful of their production being curtailed by restrictions from either Washington or Beijing.
Other powers, meanwhile, are resigning themselves to falling behind: Europe will be “No. 3 at best” when it comes to AI, Belgium’s central bank governor admitted at Semafor’s World Economy Summit.
