This paper discusses the core position of computing power in digital information technology, and the higher requirements for computing power from the accelerated development of global digital information technology after the COVID-19 epidemic. The article points out that as a leader in generative artificial intelligence, the United States holds a hostile attitude towards China's rise in the field of computing power and has taken a series of export control measures to restrict the development of China's computing power. The article also mentioned the specific policies and behaviors of the United States in competing for computing power with China, as well as the negative impacts and limitations that these behaviors may bring.

1、 The issue of computing power in the context of national competition in the era of artificial intelligence

Computing power, as a critical element in the digital information technology industry, is closely related to chips, infrastructure, and data. Chips are the decisive factor in computing power, and infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers drive the value creation of computing power. In the era of digitization and artificial intelligence, computing power has strategic significance for competition between countries. The rapid development of global computing power technology relies on the advancement of artificial intelligence, especially the performance of pre trained large models, which is closely related to the number of parameters. The global artificial intelligence computing market is expected to grow significantly, but the level of computing power development is uneven among countries, and the computing power gap is widening. The development of computing power also excessively consumes natural resources such as water and electricity, posing a threat to ecological security.

2、 The United States' perception of the comparison of computing power between China and the United States

Discussed the United States' perception of the comparison of computing power between China and the United States. The United States believes that it has advantages in areas such as computing chip research and development and data center construction, but is concerned about China's catching up momentum. American companies such as NVIDIA hold a monopoly position in the GPU field, and the United States consolidates its advantage in computing chips through various means. The number and revenue of data centers in the United States rank first in the world. However, the United States remains wary of potential competitors, exaggerating the gap with China in network carrying capacity and worrying about China's development in the field of supercomputers. The United States believes that China has already gained advantages in network transportation capabilities and supercomputers, and will further widen the gap with the United States in the future.

3、 Specific measures taken by the United States to engage in computing power competition with China

The Biden administration's technology competition strategy towards China is characterized by a balance between "internal self-improvement" and "suppression of China" in the field of computing power. The United States is expanding its investment in computing resources through government enterprise academia partnerships, such as the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resources (NAIRR) infrastructure roadmap jointly developed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), with a budget of $2.6 billion, aimed at providing basic research resources such as computing resources, high-quality data, and educational tools. The scale and technological level of computing power in the United States have significantly improved, especially in the field of artificial intelligence. The United States has consistently ranked first in the global computing power index evaluation report. Top technology companies in the United States, such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc., attach great importance to the construction of energy-efficient data centers. The power efficiency (PUE) of data centers has reached the world's best level, and disruptive computing technologies have been developed, such as Intel's promotion of commercial Z-level and personal user P-level supercomputing research. The US government is also making up for the shortcomings in network transportation capacity and physical manufacturing of supercomputers, such as providing funding support for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund under the Chip and Science Act and expanding local chip manufacturing capabilities.

4、 The impact and limitations of US computing power competition with China

In order to maintain its global computing power hegemony, the United States regards China as its main challenger and has adopted a series of containment policies, leading to intensified technological competition and deteriorating relations between China and the United States. The technology conflict between the United States and China continues to escalate, from targeted lockdowns during the Trump era to technology restrictions during the Biden era. The United States has intensified its pressure on China in areas such as computing chip exports and cloud services. The United States is also attempting to force its allies to expand export controls on chip manufacturing equipment to China, restrict foreign users from accessing US cloud service products, and submit transaction reports related to foreign training of artificial intelligence models. The actions of the United States seriously disrupt the global planning and layout of the computing power industry, forcing multinational corporations to adjust their global production plans, restricting the free global circulation of core technologies, tools, and end products related to computing power, increasing enterprise costs, and affecting the development of the computing power industry. The US regulation of China's computing power chips has led to an imbalance between supply and demand in the global chip industry, impacting global digital development and widening the digital divide. The computing infrastructure construction projects carried out by Chinese enterprises in Asian, African, and Latin American countries have been impacted, affecting the local digital transformation. The United States is attempting to establish a global chip supply chain centered around itself, but faces challenges such as a gap between investment expectations and actual investment, a shortage of technical personnel, and many uncertainties in the prospects of the domestic revival strategy for high-end manufacturing of computing chips. The US ban on computing power chips from China has caused dissatisfaction in the global industry, and the actual effect is questionable. Chip companies are seeking compliance paths for cooperation with China. The value of China's computing power market is enormous, and foreign investment is difficult to give up. The Chinese market has significant appeal to global computing power enterprises. The cost of the computing power industry environment is enormous, and ecological security governance is urgent. The United States cannot do without China's cooperation. The global energy consumption in chip production has sharply increased, and the operating consumption of computing infrastructure is astonishing, exacerbating resource consumption and environmental pollution. China has a key voice and demonstration position in the ecological security governance of the computing industry.

conclusion

The competition for computing power between the United States and China is inevitable, as the development of artificial intelligence technology has intensified the tension in the United States. China's progress in the field of computing power has intensified the structural contradictions between China and the United States, and the United States' tendency towards competition and confrontation with China will not ease. China needs to seize the opportunity of developing computing power and open up space for international cooperation under pressure from the United States. The ecological security threat brought by the development of computing power cannot be ignored, and global systematic governance efforts have not yet emerged. Balancing the contradiction between technological development and ecological security is a challenge faced by major computing powers such as China and the United States. Only through more frequent and efficient international cooperation, rather than zero sum games, can human society sustainably enjoy the progress and benefits brought by the development of computing power.