The Geopolitics of AI Infrastructure - Dylan Patel, SemiAnalysis
Jun 19, 2025 · 18:29
Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis argues that despite US sanctions, Huawei has engineered a 384-chip cluster (Cloud Matrix 384) that Nvidia failed to deploy, while accessing TSMC via Softgo and HBM from Samsung via shell companies — all legally. China's SMIC will soon produce 7nm AI chips in high volumes, debunking the notion that China lacks compute. Meanwhile, Middle East players like G42 (UAE) and Datavolt (Saudi Arabia) are building multi-gigawatt data centers, with G42's deal letting it keep 20% of 500,000 GPUs yearly for itself while 80% goes to US companies like OpenAI. Patel highlights the US's 63-gigawatt power shortfall vs. 100 GW of planned data centers, explaining why US companies rely on Middle East capacity and why China's superior power buildout gives it a geopolitical edge.
