Om Malik – China's EV Boom Is Bad for U.S..Tech (crazystupidtech.com)

Volvo's recent announcement about its ES90 electric vehicle, equipped with dual NVIDIA Orin chips enabling 508 trillion operations per second, highlights the growing technological competition in the automotive sector. The ES90’s sophisticated features, including lidar, radars, cameras, and a neural network processing 200 million parameters, position it as a "supercomputer on wheels." This underscores a shift in the auto industry, where the emphasis is moving from traditional manufacturing to advanced computing capabilities, indicating the increasing importance of software and AI technologies in vehicles. This transformation poses a significant challenge for U.S. automakers like Tesla, which, despite leading in sales, faces fierce competition from Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and Geely. Chinese companies are rapidly escalating their market presence, bolstered by a vertically integrated manufacturing approach and a strong domestic market. As China continues to dominate over 40% of global vehicle production with a focus on electric and hybrid vehicles, the implications are profound for global tech leadership. The U.S. risks losing its competitive edge in automotive technology, mirroring past declines in other tech sectors. The integration of AI and extensive data collection from these EVs could further enhance China’s ability to set tech standards, reshaping the future of mobility and posing a substantial threat to American dominance in innovation.