Supply Chain Guides

In-depth guides to the AI chip supply chain, semiconductor chokepoints, GPU export controls, HBM memory, and China's domestic AI stack.

Supply Chain

The AI Chip Supply Chain: A Complete Guide

How raw silicon becomes a deployed GPU — the 17-tier supply chain, its chokepoints, ongoing wars reshaping it, and what a single disruption costs humanity's most consequential technology project.

Updated Jun 2026Read guide →
China AI

How China's AI Industry Is Adapting to the Export Ban

Inside China's $150 billion response to chip export controls — Huawei's Ascend platform, SMIC's DUV workaround, DeepSeek's efficiency revolution, and what the domestic Chinese AI stack means for US, Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese companies.

Updated Jun 2026Read guide →
Export Controls

GPU Export Controls Explained: What They Are, How They Work, and Who's Affected

A plain-language guide to US and China export controls in the AI chip supply chain — which chips are restricted, which materials China controls, how Japan and Korea navigate multi-jurisdictional compliance, and what comes next.

Updated Jun 2026Read guide →
Memory / HBM

HBM Memory: The Quiet Bottleneck Slowing AI Development

Why high-bandwidth memory has become AI's most constrained resource — who makes it, why so few can, how the Iran war compounded Korea's supply chain risk, and when supply might catch up to demand.

Updated Jun 2026Read guide →
Chokepoints

Semiconductor Chokepoints: The Hidden Vulnerabilities in AI Hardware

A deep dive into the critical single points of failure in the semiconductor supply chain — why they exist, why they persist, and why 2026 exposed more of them than any year since COVID.

Updated Jun 2026Read guide →