China chip blockade woes are only going to get worse, for a while

The last two US administration have been steadily ratcheting up the limits of what kind of chips can be sold in China over fears that the hardware, and the equipment to make it domestically, could help support Chinese military and AI systems. With a lot of diplomatic arm twisting other countries were persuaded to join in and this month the US banned more types of chip sales.

That said, some manufacturers aren't exactly playing ball and are designing chipsets slightly below the allowed limits, but which can also be purchased in bulk and used at scale - something China has proved adept at. There's also sanctions busting, to ease short-term pressures in some cases. You can see the whole session below.

However, in the long term it looks inevitable that China will develop its own advanced chip technology, given the many billions it has invested in the project. It's like a question of when, not if, and it's a slightly extended Kettle as there's a lot to cover..

Clockwise from the top left we have Tobias Mann, Chris Williams, Simon Sharwood, and Iain Thomson. Our producers were Nicole Hemsoth Prickett and junior producer, Mia Prickett (5) who thinks Simon talks funny.