🔮 China, the US & the geopolitics of AI compute

What happens when the power to shape AI’s future lies not in the smartest model—but in who controls the compute?This week, I spoke with Lennart Heim, researcher at RAND and advisor to Epoch AI, to unpack the geopolitics of compute: why sheer model capability is no longer the only game in town, and how control over compute may define who leads in AI.We discussed:* Why China matching US models doesn’t mean it’s winning the AI race.* The staggering scale of infrastructure: 100,000+ GPUs, billions in hardware, and spiralling test-time compute demands.* Why algorithmic efficiency is slashing costs and redrawing the frontier faster than expected.* The economic and national security tension between AI deployment and control.* The risks of over-concentration and the rise of sovereign compute strategies from Europe to the UAE.* What open-source models on abundant compute might mean for future power dynamics.From token floods to trillion-dollar CapEx, we explored the delicate architecture of power in the age of AI. Enjoy!📅 Catch me live every Friday at 9am PT | 12pm ET | 5pm UK. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.exponentialview.co/subscribe